Fabrizio Romano has reported that Liverpool are steadfastly refusing to budge in their valuation of one in-demand player at Anfield.
A series of impressive performances in pre-season have led to plenty of interest in Sepp van den Berg, with PSV Eindhoven already having a bid of £8.4m turned down by the Reds (BBC Sport).
The Italian transfer reporter took to X on Monday afternoon with an update on the defender, claiming that LFC are adamant on their minimum asking price for the 22-year-old.
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Romano posted: “Understand Liverpool have been clear with clubs interested in Sepp van den Berg: price tag is £20m. Liverpool are not accepting €10/12m proposals, no way. The asking price remains £20m.”
Dutch journalist Rik Elfrink also took to social media today with his own information on the centre-back, stating that the Reds’ valuation is ‘not possible’ for PSV.
🚨🔴 Understand Liverpool have been clear with clubs interested in Sepp van den Berg: price tag is £20m.
Liverpool are not accepting €10/12m proposals, no way.
The asking price remains £20m. pic.twitter.com/kMU5MZiFPy
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 12, 2024
If Liverpool deem Van den Berg to be worth £20m, then they’ve every right to demand at least that amount for him, and they shouldn’t feel any compulsion to pander to prospective suitors who might be audaciously trying to sign him for less.
Even if he’s unlikely to receive many starts at Anfield over the coming season, his performances over the past month have shown that, at a minimum, he’s a useful squad option. Indeed, the standards he set in training reportedly wowed the Reds’ coaching staff.
In a market where Omari Kellyman can command £19m after making just six senior appearances in his fledgling career, £20m seems more than reasonable for Van den Berg, who’s already surpassed 130 first-team games, 33 of which have come in the Bundesliga.
If PSV are unable to meet Liverpool’s valuation of the Dutch centre-back, that’s their problem and not ours. We wouldn’t expect them to undervalue one of their assets if LFC (or any other suitors) were to submit an offer.
There’s still a possibility that the 22-year-old will move on from Anfield before the end of this month, but only if an interested club can meet the price that the Reds have quite clearly specified.
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