Sepp van den Berg is reportedly set to leave Liverpool this summer after making just four appearances in five years with the Premier League giants.
Arne Slot’s first summer at Anfield has been more about outbound transfers than inbounds, with Fabio Carvalho, Adrian, Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara all departing the club.
And it appears the quartet are now set to join Van den Berg, with reports claiming Liverpool are set to accept a £20m bid that matches their valuation of the defender.
The Reds have already rejected offers from Bundesliga sides Mainz and Wolfsburg, who have previously signed the Dutchman on loan.
The Athletic report that Brentford have won the race to sign Van den Berg, having stepped up their interest in the player following his impressive pre-season displays.
The Bees are keen to add a centre-back to their ranks, with the likes of Burnley’s Dara O’Shea and Sheffield United’s Anel Ahmedhodzic also being targeted.
And Thomas Frank will hope his side’s good relationship with Liverpool following the £27.5m signing of Carvalho can help sweeten the deal.
Slot gave Van den Berg a chance in pre-season but he was an unused substitute in the manager’s first competitive game in charge, the win over Ipswich Town.
In fact, the 22-year-old has barely featured for Liverpool since his £4.4m move from PEC Zwolle in 2019.
Van den Berg has made just four appearances under Jurgen Klopp, totalling just 271 minutes, none of which have come in the Premier League, although he does have a Club World Cup medal.
Van den Berg still has two years left on his contract and has previously spent time on loan at Preston, Schalke and Mainz.
Van den Berg, who is now 22 years old, admits the big challenges he has faced since arriving at Liverpool at the age of 18. In order to gain experience and playing time, he has been loaned to several clubs starting in the 2021-2022 season.
Van den Berg has played with clubs such as Preston North End, Schalke 04, and Mainz 05.
However, in an interview with De Telegraaf, Van den Berg revealed that Liverpool seemed to be ‘blocking’ his future. He indicated that if he did not get the chance to play, he could potentially look for opportunities elsewhere.
Van den Berg even admitted that he enjoyed his time playing in Germany with Mainz.
“I know that I can’t immediately get into the Liverpool first team from PEC Zwolle. I could be at Liverpool for another year or two, but I want to play with all my might,” said Van den Berg.
He added: “I always asked to go out on loan because I felt better and made a lot of progress physically. In the first season, it was amazing. Imagine, you are 17 or 18 years old, playing as a centre-back against the starting XI in training, having to deal with Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
“It was tough, but I enjoyed it. But I don’t get the same treatment anymore. I have had good conversations with the management, and they said they have received good reports,” he added.
