Arne Slot’s first official day as Liverpool manager began with one of his players demanding that he leave the club.
Young defender Sepp van den Berg has called on the Reds to arrange a permanent exit for him, accusing the club of “hindering” his future.
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The 22-year-old joined Liverpool from Dutch club PEC Zwolle in 2019, but has only made four appearances for the first team since then.
Van den Berg spent most of his time at the Premier League giants on loan, most recently at Bundesliga side Mainz, where he was a regular starter.
And it looks like he is ready to leave Anfield to play more regularly in the first team, with his new head coach Slot potentially overseeing one of his first squad departures as Reds manager.
Speaking to De Telegraaf, Van den Berg admitted that it was time for him to leave and suggested that the club had not kept previous promises regarding his playing time.
“I knew I wouldn’t get anything from PEC Zwolle [straight] into Liverpool’s first team,” he said. “I could have stayed at Liverpool for another year or two, but I wanted to play with all my strength.
“I demanded [loaned] out. Every time because I felt like I was getting better and better. I also made great progress physically. Just the whole [first] season. On the one hand, that was great.
“Yes, how does it work? You’re 17, 18 years old, you’re training in the middle of the defence against the starting eleven, you have to build up and then Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah come running towards you. It was hard, but I enjoyed it. But to be honest, I wasn’t being looked after anymore.
“I also felt ‘ready’ [in 2021]. I had a good conversation with management. He said he had received good reports. I understood that I would not play [Virgil] , [Joel] Matip or [Ibrahima] Konate out [the team]. But I thought I could be right behind it. When I didn’t get a chance, I said, “Find out, I want to get out of here.”
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“You [Liverpool] has shown no trust in me the whole time, but they want to ruin my future. I want to keep playing every week and keep developing.
“In Germany I enjoy [Borussia] Dortmund away with 70,000 spectators, Bayern Munich away against Harry Kane, Stuttgart, [RB] Leipzig, [Bayer] Leverkusen, I’m challenged every week against clubs like that.”
As James Pearce of The Athletic reports, Liverpool estimates Van den Berg’s value at around £20 million, with Mainz having no option to buy as part of the loan deal.
The Dutch defender could therefore be one of the Reds’ first departures this summer, as Slot officially takes up his role as head coach on Saturday.
He comes to Anfield to replace Jürgen Klopp, who previously played for Feyenoord, where he won the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup.
Slot has yet to be officially unveiled by Liverpool, but will soon be on the coaching bench during pre-season, which includes a trip to the USA.