Liverpool supporters have become used to hearing radio silence from their club during transfer season.
The summer window can become a cacophony of unwanted noise for teams as they look to ready their sides for the upcoming season.
For Liverpool, they are experts at drowning out that sound and focusing on bringing in the right players to bolster the first-team squad.
During their years as Liverpool owners, FSG have often tended to go for quality over quantity in the market. That’s exactly the way things should be.
This year, the summer search appears to be initially focused on bringing in a new centre-back. And with the ‘quality over quantity’ mantra ringing in their ears, the signs suggest that Liverpool have found him.
Sepp van den Berg set to be ‘new’ Liverpool centre-back
If Liverpool were already sceptical that the answers to their questions could be found in the transfer market, then we think last summer will have solidified that view.
Rewind 12 months and the Reds were also hearing calls for them to bringing in a new defender.
However, having seen Jarell Quansah excelling during pre-season, Jurgen Klopp decided to stick with the then 20-year-old and trust him to swim rather than sink in the senior team.
Klopp was ultimately rewarded in the most handsome of ways. Quansah has blossomed into a superb defender who certainly saved Liverpool millions of pounds.
READ MORE: All confirmed Liverpool incomings, outgoings, loans and releases in 2024/25
Leaning on that experience as well as recent denials that Liverpool want Riccardo Calafiori, we think that the Reds are now plotting the way for the ‘next Jarell Quansah.’
Judging from what he showed while on-loan last season, that could only mean giving a first-team chance to Sepp van den Berg.
Van den Berg was terrific while at Mainz and although he has since expressed a desire to leave Liverpool, we think the Reds’ hesitance in the transfer market is good news for the 22-year-old.
Arne Slot is reportedly keen to take a look at Van den Berg in pre-season and if he does well there, he’s surely set to become a new fixture at Liverpool.
Liverpool should put trust in Sepp van den Berg
It can be an annoying cliche for supporters who enjoy welcoming a new player to the club, but Van den Berg truly would be like a new signing for Liverpool.
The Dutchman has been away from Anfield for nearly four years now and has developed into one of the best young defenders in Europe. As Mainz boss Bo Svensson said upon signing him last year, Sepp is ‘incredibly talented’ [mainz05.de].
It should be said, however, that Van den Berg’s recent comments about his future were ill advised and it would not be a surprise if Slot decided he has no future at Liverpool on the back of them.
But it also showed a player who is young, hungry and ready to compete in the first-team. That Liverpool haven’t sold him yet suggests they feel the same.
At the very least Slot should take a good, long look at Van den Berg when he returns this week. So far, all the signs suggest that that’s exactly what he – and Liverpool – is planning to do.
