Rav van den Berg has revealed Bayern Munich made an attempt to sign him before his move to Middlesbrough.
The current 1. FC Köln defender has given a detailed interview to Voetbal International, explaining his content at picking Middlesbrough over Bayern Munich.
Van den Berg is a product of PEC Zwolle’s youth system and made his way into their first team in 2021. He spent two years with them and his performances had caught Bayern Munich and Middlesbrough’s attention.
Boro ended up securing the 21-year-old’s services in July 2023. Prior to that, he’d held talks with the Bundesliga winners.
The centre-back’s brother, Sepp, spent five years at Liverpool between 2019 and 2024. The Reds sent him out on loan to four clubs before letting the 24-year-old join Brentford permanently in August 2024.
Sepp wanted his brother to avoid what he went through and advised him against joining a top club. VI now pointed that out to Rav and asked how he experienced Bayern Munich’s interest.
“He never told me not to, but he did share his own experiences,” he said.
“I did have some conversations in Munich. Sepp and I weren’t the same personality-wise, and I wanted to experience it myself, see if I wanted to. I knew pretty quickly that it wouldn’t be a good fit for me. I also spent a few times with Ajax in my younger years, and even then, I quickly realised it wasn’t for me at that time.”
“So, I deliberately didn’t take that step and ended up joining Middlesbrough at a slightly different club. I’m very happy with that in the end.
“It wasn’t the most logical step for many people, but it clicked. Sometimes you just have to take a risk. In my first year I became player and talent of the year.”
Rav spent two years with the Championship side and played 66 matches before moving to Köln last August.
Last year, Sepp talked about his dream of playing with Rav at some point in the future. The two brothers mentioned it again in VI’s interview.
