Arne Slot wanted to keep Liverpool star who has signed five-year deal with Premier League club

Sepp van den Berg has completed his transfer to Brentford despite Arne Slot wanting to keep the centre-back at Liverpool for the 2024/25 season. 

The Dutch star has signed a five-year deal with the London club and has moved to the Gtech Stadium as part of a £20m plus add-ons deal, reports The Athletic.

Van den Berg was given the chance to prove himself to new Liverpool coach Arne Slot during the summer as the Reds toured the United States as part of their pre-season preparations. The 22-year-old impressed in America and fans of the Merseyside club felt that this was the campaign where the defender would show his talent.

However, the centre-back has decided to leave Liverpool, which is not what Slot wanted.

According to De Telegraaf, the Reds head coach would have liked to have kept Van den Berg at Anfield for the season, but the defender did not think it was good for his development to return to the bench after several loan spells in recent years.

Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg has completed his transfer to Brentford

Did Sepp van den Berg make the right choice leaving Liverpool?

Van den Berg was with Liverpool for five years and never got the chance to show his skills at Anfield while Jurgen Klopp was in charge. The Dutch defender had loan spells at Preston, Schalke 04 and Mainz in recent years but failed to become a regular in the Merseyside club’s squad.

Slot was willing to give the 22-year-old a chance throughout the 2024/25 campaign and although he would have played more football at Anfield than before, Van den Berg wanted to fight for a starting spot elsewhere.

This is probably the right decision for the Dutch talent’s career as he showed during pre-season that he is deserving of a starting role at a good club.