Liverpool now reportedly value Sepp van den Berg at £20m – almost five times more than the £4.4m the club initially shelled out for his services in 2019.
The Dutchman won’t be sold this summer, however. At the very least, not yet, with Arne Slot first set to evaluate the returning loan star in pre-season.
“Liverpool have placed a £20million ($25.5m) valuation on Sepp van den Berg — but no decision on the defender’s future is likely to be made until he’s been assessed by new head coach Arne Slot during pre-season,” James Pearce reported for The Athletic.
“The Dutch centre-back is attracting interest from clubs across Europe after enjoying an impressive season on loan at Bundesliga outfit Mainz.
“Reports in Germany suggested that Mainz have an option to buy the 22-year-old for as little as £4.3m, but Liverpool are adamant that’s not the case.”
The former PEC Zwolle footballer had spent the season on loan with FC Mainz, attracting rave reviews for his performances in the Bundesliga.
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There’s nothing Liverpool like more than developing a promising talent themselves if they can help it.
The 22-year-old established himself as something of an aerial monster during his time in the German top-flight last year.
FBref have the centre-half down as registering in the 99th percentile for aerials won – having won 68.7% of his duels this term; a figure that still pales in comparison with Virgil van Dijk’s average of 76% from eight seasons’ worth of stats recorded.
Van den Berg will need to show more than just aerial dominance to prove his worth in Merseyside, of course.
He’ll need to prove he’s far more reliable on the ball than he’s shown in 2023/24, for instance, having recorded a poor pass completion rate of 81% this season.