Liverpool and Napoli are interested in Genk’s young midfield prospect, Sander Berge, the club’s sporting director Dimitri De Conde has claimed.
As quoted by Goal, who have carried forward claims by Genk sporting director Dimitri De Conde, Norwegian midfield prospect Sander Berge has caught the interest of clubs like Liverpool and Napoli, who are scouting the 21-year-old.
Berge has been a stalwart in midfield for the Belgian outfit and has featured 20 times this season for them, while also playing every minute in the Champions League. The youngster raised the eyebrows of the Liverpool hierarchy when they clashed in the Champions League group stage and despite going down twice the 21-year-old impressed the English giants.
However, the Reds will face some stern competition according to the Genk’s sporting director, Dimitri De Conde, who spoke to Radio Punto Nuovo (h/t Goal) about the interest from Liverpool as well as Italian clubs and in particular, Napoli.
“Napoli are interested in Sander, it’s a possibility a deal could be done. We also know that Liverpool are interested and [Jurgen] Klopp, after the game at Anfield [in the Champions League], complimented him on his performance.”
“There are clubs in Italy who are following Berge and Napoli could be one of them, but at this stage, there are no offers on the table. From next week, things could change. We haven’t had any official contact with Napoli yet.”
Although he does not want Berge to leave before the next summer, De Conde does not rule out a move in the winter transfer window. Berge has been a standout player for Genk from last season and top clubs across Europe have had their scouts monitoring the central midfielder.
The 21-year-old midfielder started his career at Asker, a third-tier club in his native Norway before he moved to Valerenga, featuring in the Eliteserien. However, Berge burst onto the scene only after he joined Genk in 2017 and gradually delivered some standout performances to inspire the Belgian outfit to win the Jupiler Pro League last season.
Despite Genk’s struggles this season in the league, Berge has been their standout player and his transformation from being a squad player to a regular is now attracting big clubs around Europe, including Liverpool and Napoli.
With James Milner in the twilight of his career and Adam Lallana likely to be offloaded within the next two windows, a move for Berge could be a step in the right direction for Liverpool to bolster their midfield.
Berge is still young, but his maturity and physical attributes make him an imposing figure in the middle of the park. It now remains to be seen if Liverpool indeed make good on their interest in the talented midfielder, or if Napoli can beat them to his signature.
