Schalke 04 sporting director André Hechelmann has said that the club are in negotiations over another possible loan move for Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg.
The Dutchman spent the 2022/23 season on loan in Gelsenkirchen but saw his campaign ravaged by injury and his side relegated from the Bundesliga.
The 21-year-old posted what seemed like a farewell message to the club’s supporters on Instagram following their drop to the second tier, although one of their key off-field figures isn’t ruling out the possibility of another deal being arranged.
As per Voetbal International, Hechelmann said of Van den Berg regarding a potential loan for 2023/24: “We are talking to him and his adviser. I see the post more as a thank you from Sepp.”
READ MORE: Liverpool lodge interest in ‘press-resistant’ teenage gem with £40m clause
It’s now been four years since the Dutch defender signed for Liverpool but he’s made just four senior appearances for the Reds, all of which came in domestic cups during his first season with us (Transfermarkt).
Having since been loaned to Preston and Schalke without ever getting another crack at Jurgen Klopp’s first team, it looks increasingly as if Van den Berg’s long-term future lies away from Anfield, despite signing a long-term contract extension with his parent club last August (LFC official website).
Either side of the ankle ligament injury which curtailed his campaign, the 21-year-old played in every match but one for which he was available for Die Königsblauen in 2022/23 (Transfermarkt), so he’d very likely get plenty of game-time if he goes back to the Veltins-Arena for another year.
That’d be all the more probable following their relegation, which could see their higher earners depart for top-flight football elsewhere, in turn giving the Liverpool loanee even greater scope to feature prominently under Thomas Reis in Gelsenkirchen.
Van den Berg’s Instagram post may have been more a case of showing his gratitude if he doesn’t know what the future holds, rather than a straight-up goodbye, and perhaps another loan move to Schalke could give him the regular action he needs if he’s to ever force his way into Klopp’s plans.