Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg has suffered yet another injury blow, and it’s one which could have an impact on a reported transfer target at Anfield.
As reported by Voetbal Primeur, the 21-year-old will miss the European Under-21 Championship due to a muscle tear, having been in line to start in Netherlands’ defence alongside Micky van de Ven, who’ll now require a new centre-back partner.
The latter is reportedly being tracked by the Reds (The i Paper) and admitted that he’d ‘like to’ move to another club if the opportunity to leave Wolfsburg arises (ESPN).
Shurandy Sambo has been called up for the Under-21 Euros in place of Van den Berg, with the Dutch playing their opening match against Belgium on Wednesday.
The injury blow to the Liverpool youngster is the latest in an unfortunate queue of setbacks he’s endured over the past year.
Having secured a loan move to Schalke 04, Van den Berg suffered ankle ligament damage which precluded him from the first team for more than six months (Transfermarkt).
A hapless own goal in a reserve team fixture in March as he stepped up his recovery added to the torment, and then his club were relegated from the Bundesliga last month, his late-season comeback unable to spare them from the drop.
The Dutchman could return to Liverpool for pre-season with the Reds on 8 July after receiving treatment on the muscle injury, and it remains to be seen if this latest body blow will affect his chances of getting a move elsewhere.
Hopefully once he overcomes this fresh setback, Van den Berg can either impress Jurgen Klopp sufficiently to get further first-team opportunities at Anfield or obtain another loan switch which’d give him regular senior game-time…assuming he doesn’t continue to suffer woeful misfortune with injuries.