In our exclusive interview last week with Ian Rush, Liverpool’s all-time leading scorer said that he expects his former club to make a couple signings this summer.
Just a few days ago, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his club, as well as any other club that wants to get to/stay at the top, must spend big. Well, the Reds’ first signing of the summer is now finally here and it’s Sepp van den Berg, a 17-year-old PEC Zwolle central defender. According to The Guardian, the deal is worth £1.79 million and Sepp is set to undergo his medical with the Merseyside club tomorrow.
The outlet says that the Dutch teenager is “expected to spend next season acclimatizing and learning before trying to make an impression on the first-team squad.”
That all makes sense, given the strength and depth of Liverpool’s central defense pairing.
However, with Dejan Lovren expected to possibly leave this summer, the Anfield outfit is addressing their anticipated future needs to beef up the position. Van Den Berg made 15 Eredivisie appearances last season, logging 901 league minutes in the Dutch top flight.
While that £1.79m figure is certainly not the stuff of block buster headlines, the 17-year-old was reportedly strongly pursued by both Ajax and Bayern Munich.
Also, the report states that Sampdoria failed to acquire the teenager despite making a larger bid of £2.25m in January.
This deal could best be described as smart and thrifty; certainly not splashy. After all, last summer saw Liverpool splashing the cash to the extreme as they spent more of £170 million on goalkeeper Alisson, and midfielders Naby Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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