Christian Falk has revealed that Schalke 04 would ‘like to talk with Liverpool’ regarding another deal for on-loan defender Sepp van den Berg.
The Dutchman is currently with the Bundesliga club on a temporary basis until the end of the season, although the Gelsenkirchen outfit appear quite interested in securing him for at least another year.
The reliable German reporter exclusively revealed in his latest briefing for CaughtOffside: “Schalke are very confident of signing Sepp van den Berg. They hope to get a new deal with Liverpool.
“If they go down into the second league in Germany, they’d like to keep him. He would be one of the key players, so they’d like to talk with Liverpool. Perhaps Liverpool could give him a new contract so they can draw up a new loan deal (as his contract runs out in 2024).”
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Earlier in the week, both Van den Berg and Schalke’s head of licensing Gerald Asamoah indicated an eagerness for the Liverpool centre-back to remain at the Veltins Arena for the 2023/24 season.
Even though his campaign was almost completely sabotaged by a long-term ankle ligament injury (Transfermarkt), it seems the 21-year-old has made enough of an impression in Gelsenkirchen for the club to seek out a potential agreement to secure him for another year.
From the Reds’ perspective, it could make sense to try and agree a new contract at Anfield in order to avoid losing him on a free transfer in 12 months’ time when his current deal expires.
If he goes back to Schalke and enjoys another impressive season, that could motivate them to try and arrange a permanent transfer, which in turn would see Liverpool reap a fee for their asset, particularly if there doesn’t seem to be a first-team window of opportunity for him on Merseyside.
Van den Berg has made only four appearances for his parent club since signing in 2019, with each of those coming in his first year with us (Transfermarkt).
Unless Jurgen Klopp is determined to take a closer look at the Dutchman during pre-season, it’d appear a sensible course of action for LFC to allow him spend another campaign with Die Königsblauen, who seem determined to offer him the regular game-time he hasn’t been able to get in the Premier League.