SAD SEPP WANTING TO LEAVE ANFIELD
LIVERPOOL defender Sepp van den Berg insists he has no interest in trying to impress new boss Arne Slot after accusing Jurgen Klopp of damaging his career.
Van den Berg, 22, who has just spent an impressive season on loan at Klopp’s former outfit Mainz, wants the chance to continue in the Bundesliga on a permanent basis.
He feels Liverpool failed to keep promises made to him after moving to Anfield in a £1.3million deal with PEC Zwolle in 2019.
And he is unhappy the Reds may now be blocking his escape by demanding £20m for him.
Fellow Dutchman Slot has taken over from Klopp after leaving Feyenoord.
But Van den Berg said:
“In all honesty, I am no longer being looked after.
“In Germany, I enjoy Dortmund with 70,000 people, Bayern Munich against Harry Kane, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Leverkusen. Against clubs like that I am challenged every week.
“I knew very well I could not go from PEC Zwolle straight into Liverpool’s first team when I moved.
“I could have had one or two more years at Liverpool, but I wanted to play and so I demanded to be let out. I felt I was getting better and better and that I was also making great strides physically.
“But I understood I was not going to play ahead of Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip or Ibrahima Konate.”
Meanwhile, Cody Gakpo believes Slot’s footballing style will be transferrable to the challenge of the Premier League.
He said: “I think so, otherwise the club wouldn’t have appointed him.
“If you talk about neat football and high pressure, with the latter being a very big characteristic of us under Jurgen Klopp, then that is also something we are certainly used to.”