Pre-season is often regarded as the perfect time for young and/or peripheral players at a football club to make an impression on the coaching staff, and one man at Liverpool appears to be taking his opportunity.
According to James Pearce for The Athletic, Sepp van den Berg ‘has exceeded’ the expectations of Arne Slot and the Reds’ coaches since the squad reconvened three weeks ago.
He had the best score in the notorious fitness test in the opening week of pre-season before Mo Salah overtook him, and the new head coach have been pleasantly surprised by the 22-year old’s ‘maturity and technical ability’ behind the scenes.
Liverpool have placed a £20m price tag on the defender, which he’s publicly admitted was higher than he’d expect, and are in no rush to decide on his future, with the Dutchman repeatedly making it clear that he wants to be playing regularly in the upcoming campaign.
Van den Berg’s loan spell at Mainz last season has seemed to do him the world of good, having benefitted from a full campaign of regular Bundesliga action by returning to Liverpool a greatly enhanced player from previous years.
He turns 23 in December, so it’s understandable that he now wants to firmly make the transition from future prospect to fixed first-team presence. Whether or not he’s granted that opportunity at Anfield is the £20m question for the club’s hierarchy.
Seeing plenty of pre-season action is one thing, but fending off the likes of Jarell Quansah, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez for a starting berth over the longer-term is another matter, with the latter two yet to return from their post-Euro 2024 holiday.
Of course, injuries and suspension could open the door for Van den Berg to feature competitively and, like the English youngster has done over the past year, hold down a place in the team for a prolonged period.
The 22-year-old’s standing in the centre-back pecking order should become a lot clearer in the remainder of pre-season and the first couple of matches in the Premier League campaign.
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