European club set to INCREASE offer for long-serving Liverpool talent

A major European side are preparing to increase their offer for a Liverpool player who has been at the club for five years and featured heavily throughout pre-season for Arne Slot.

According to a report from Football Insider, sources are cited suggesting that PSV Eindhoven will be returning to their continued interest over Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg.

Having been given opportunities in pre-season by fellow Dutchman Slot, van den Berg is garnering interest from clubs across Europe on the back of an impressive loan spell with Mainz during their 2023/24 Bundesliga campaign.

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So far, no club has been willing to meet the alleged £20m asking price sporting director Richard Hughes has placed on the 22 year-old, with a slew of German sides chasing a deal. PSV are said to be returning with an offer greater than the initial £8.4m they offered the Reds earlier this summer, but still short of the reported asking price and the reigning Eredivisie champions are hoping to negotiate Liverpool down to a lower fee. 

Any sale of van den Berg would see the Reds earn significant return on their investment, as when he was signed in the summer of 2019 he cost a paltry £1.3m, although it was reported that with clauses this would rise to £4.4m. Nonetheless, any offer over £15m would represent really shrewd business and would be more money which Liverpool could redirect to signing a player in a more urgently required position. 

PSV expecting offers themselves

PSV are currently bracing themselves for Premier League clubs returning to poach young winger Johan Bakayoko, with a bid from Nottingham Forest recently rejected. Bakayoko is a player Liverpool have been interested in, someone Arne Slot would be familiar with having faced him just last season, and it’s worth considering quotes the 21 year-old Belgian gave recently insisting he didn’t want to depart Eindhoven unless it was for a title-challenging side in a stronger league.