Liverpool looks set to officially say goodbye to Sepp van den Berg with the 22-year-old closing in on a move to Brentford .
A deal has reportedly been agreed in principle to see the Anfield club get $32.74 million (£25m) plus $6.55 million (£5m) in add-ons for the young defender, according to Sky Sports. It means Liverpool is set to get its wish in terms of the price tag for Van den Berg, making a major profit after paying an initial fee of £1.3m ($1.65m) potentially rising to £4.4m ($5.6m) in the summer of 2019 to land the Dutchman from PEC Zwolle.
While Liverpool has yet to compete with any incoming transfers for 2024-25, the club is set to sell Van den Berg after it was previously rumored that there was interest in the player from Bayer Leverkusen. He now appears set to remain in the Premier League, pending agreeing personal terms, after Brentford met the Reds' valuation.
Van den Berg will add to the growing list of departures in the new Arne Slot era after seeing Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara, Rhys Williams, Calvin Ramsay, Adrdian, and Fabio Carvalho leave the club, the latter also to Brentford . For each of his five seasons with the team, he was loaned to four clubs, including Preston North End, Schalke 04, Schalke 04 II, and Mainz 05.
Van den Berg hasn't played a single game for Liverpool in the Premier League at the senior level after signing with the club. He played in the EFL Cup 5-5 draw against Arsenal and was featured in the team's preseason USA tour, again playing against the Gunners in a 2-1 win.
He didn't play the last two preseason games of the season, seemingly falling out of favor with Arne Slot. Van den Berg also wasn't part of the squad for Liverpool's 2-0 season-opening win over Ipswich.
Before agreeing terms with Brentford, Liverpool held out on negotiations for sale, standing firm on its asking price. Brentford, Southampton, Wolfsburg, and PSV Eindhoven were all rumored to have made official bids for Van den Berg but falling short of the club's evaluation.
Van den Berg's play style has been closely compared to Ethan Pinnock, who currently plays center-back for Brentford. Both defenders rank high statistically when it comes to winning aerial duels and clearances and showing the physicality necessary to compete in the Premier League .
Pinnock scored two goals last season compared to Van den Berg's three, and both completed over 80 percent of their passes. Both excelled at winning tackles in the final third and won exactly 23 tackles to gain possession of the ball. The glaring difference between the players is age, with Pinnock being 31 years old.
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