‘He definitely wants…’ – Sporting director says Liverpool ace has ‘made a decision’ on his future
One Liverpool player is believed to have made up his mind about where he wants to be playng next season.
Sepp van den Berg is still on the books at Anfield, having recently returned from his latest loan spell in Germany, this time with Mainz.
The Bundesliga club’s sporting director has now claimed that the Dutch defender sees his future at the MEWA Arena, where he featured prominently during the past year.
Christian Heidel told Allgemeine Zeitung (via Kicker): “The only one who has made a decision is Sepp. He definitely wants to stay in Mainz. He has said that very clearly in public.”
At the start of this month, Van den Berg gave an explosive interview with Dutch outlet De Telegraaf in which he accused Liverpool of not having ‘confidence’ in him.
His frustration is understandable, having made just four appearances for the Reds and none since February 2020 (Transfermarkt), but with those comments he may well have burned his bridges with his parent club.
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Given LFC’s struggles for centre-back depth last season, and the 22-year-old being a near-constant starter in the Bundesliga for Mainz, this summer could’ve represented the right time for him to finally push for regular first-team contention on Merseyside.
However, Heidel’s comments indicate that Van den Berg sees his future away from Liverpool, and if the defender is adamant that he’d rather play for Die Nullfünfer, then it might be for the best to grant him his wish.
Should he move on this summer, it’d be a shame that he never managed to establish himself at Anfield, and hopefully him leaving wouldn’t be a decision we’d live to regret if the defensive injury crisis of 2020/21 were to resurface next term.
If the Reds’ hierarchy want him to stay at the club, it’ll likely take a very convincing argument to change his mind.
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