Arne Slot will offer two Liverpool players a golden opportunity to stake their claim for first-team places at Anfield over the summer, with the pair in question having been linked with potential exits from the club.
Tyler Morton is attracting interest from multiple suitors across Europe (The Athletic), while Sepp van den Berg reportedly wants a return to Mainz, where he enjoyed a prosperous loan spell over the past year (Allgemeine Zeitung, via Kicker).
However, in the latest Transfer DealSheet roundup for The Athletic, James Pearce and Andy Jones indicated that the duo will link with the Reds’ squad for pre-season and will be given a chance to prove their worth to the new head coach.
READ MORE: Slot planning to keep Liverpool duo at Anfield, but £75m+ for both could tip the scales
Both players made excellent use of their respective loan spells last season to enjoy regular game-time and potentially open a window of opportunity at Liverpool.
Morton registered eight goal contributions in 41 games at Hull, starting 35 times in the Championship as they just missed out on the play-offs. Meanwhile, Van den Berg netted three times in 35 outings for Mainz, helping them to retain their Bundesliga status.
While it may seem hard to envisage either of them establishing themselves at Anfield in the short-term, it’s worth remembering how the likes of Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah went from being up-and-coming talents to first-team regulars over the past few months.
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An injury crisis also allowed the likes of Lewis Koumas and Jayden Danns to sample senior game-time for Liverpool earlier this year, so those who appear to be on the periphery right now will realise that fortune might just break in their favour if they can do the right things on the training ground.
Van den Berg might be hard to convince if, as reported, he sees his future away from Merseyside, but maybe a prosperous pre-season might alter his line of thinking. As for Morton, he could view this summer as a pivotal juncture in his LFC career, given that he’ll turn 22 in October.
If Slot is prepared to give the duo their chance before the competitive action gets underway in August, hopefully they can make the most of it and, just maybe, emulate the feats of Bradley and Quansah from last term.
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