It’s been a waiting game at Liverpool for Sepp van den Berg, but events of the past few days suggest that he could finally be about to enjoy a genuine breakthough to the senior squad.
The 22-year-old has been a Reds player for five years but played only four times for the club, having had three loan spells away from Anfield in that time, but he’s linked up with the group at the AXA Training Centre and is already making quite the impression on Arne Slot.
As reported by James Pearce for The Athletic, LFC have rejected offers from Mainz and Wolfsburg for the £20m-valued defender, and he instead looks set to get his chance for us in pre-season.
The Dutchman clocked the highest average speed during running tests in Liverpool training over the weekend, with the new coaching staff on Merseyside firmly believing that his technical ability increased notably during his loan stint in the Bundesliga last term.
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When Van den Berg hinted in an interview with De Telegraaf at the start of June that he wanted to leave Liverpool for good, it felt as if he had no future to speak of at Anfield.
However, to his credit, the 22-year-old has knuckled down and made an instant impression on Slot in Kirkby; and if he can stand out during our pre-season friendlies over the next month, he might just become a genuine first-team option once the competitive action begins.
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He need only look at Jarell Quansah for inspiration when it comes to making the breakthrough for the Reds – this time last year, the Englishman had never played a senior game for us; by June he was on standy for his country’s Euro 2024 squad.
With Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate all due to go on holiday once their involvement at that tournament ends over the next few days, Liverpool will be short of centre-back options for the start of their pre-season tour to USA.
That could be Van den Berg’s golden opportunity to prove to his bosses that he can have a big part to play at Anfield over the next year and possibly beyond. Let’s hope he can make the most of it and finally become a mainstay on Merseyside.
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