Liverpool’s demands for Sepp van den Berg have seen Hoffenheim and Mainz pull away from pursuing the Dutchman.
That’s according to BILD, who say the defender has been deemed ‘too expensive’ by his suitors in the Bundesliga.
The newspaper reports that Van den Berg is on the list of half of the clubs in the Bundesliga this summer after impressing on loan at Mainz last season.
He’s returned to Liverpool this summer, but numerous reports have made it clear he would like to leave as he’s not guaranteed to be a first-team regular next season.
But Liverpool are currently resisting, demanding an ‘insane’ transfer fee of €24m for the defender. That’s too much for Hoffenheim, who have immediately pulled out of negotiations.
A purchase is also out of the question for Mainz, who have made that clear via their sports director Christian Heidel.
“We would like to keep him, and Sepp would be very happy to do that too. But we will not buy a player for over £20m, which is what LFC wants. Our club cannot afford that,” he is quoted as saying to Sky.
The hope is that Liverpool will reduce their demands by the end of the transfer window, according to BILD, but until it does look like the Bundesliga duo are out of the race.
