Sepp van den Berg has hit out Liverpool’s ‘treatment’ of him as he expressed his desire to leave the club in the summer.
Sepp van den Berg was considered a talent of the future when he signed for Liverpool from Dutch side FC Zwolle. However, he has found game time hard to come by at Anfield, and last season, he spent a productive loan at Mainz, where he was a sure starter.
The defender seems very unhappy with Liverpool’s treatment of him in the ensuing years. The 22-year-old Liverpool ace now wishes to leave the club at all costs and lamented many things, including a potential £20 million price tag the club has placed on him ahead of the summer. His comments on De Telegraaf via 90 Mins showed plenty of what’s been going on in the background.
Van den Berg said, “In all honesty, I was no longer looked after.”
“I knew for sure that I couldn’t get into Liverpool’s first team from PEC Zwolle [in 2019]. I could have spent another year or two at Liverpool, but I really wanted to play. I demanded to be loaned out. Every time, because I felt I was getting better and better. I also made great strides physically.”
“I also felt ‘ready’. I had a good conversation with the manager. He said he had received good reports. I certainly understood that I was not going to eliminate Van Dijk, [Joel] Matip or [Ibrahima] Konate, but I thought I could get behind them straight away. When I didn’t get a chance again, I said, ‘Figure it out, I want to leave again’.”
“You have not radiated confidence in me all this time, but you do want to hinder my future,” he said of his price tag. “I want to continue playing every week and further develop myself.”
Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Liverpool ace might have some interest coming from the Bundesliga, and from his comments, it looks certain that he will depart Liverpool in the summer. He will also have seen the time given to fellow young defenders like Jarell Quansah, and he will probably have lamented his decision not to stick around.
Liverpool is in the market for new defenders to replace Joel Matip, although there’s no chance for someone like Van den Berg to come in and be that replacement. The club will instead look to sell the Dutchman for a profit, considering the sum they paid to sign him.
