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While Sepp van den Berg is currently on tour with Liverpool in the United States, the defender is still subject of transfer interest ahead of a likely move.
Van den Berg is one of 28 players who flew to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, and is expected to start against Real Betis in the club’s first official friendly of pre-season.
He does so with major doubts over his future at Liverpool, having already criticised the club with claims they were pricing him out of a transfer with a £20 million valuation.
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PSV Eindhoven are reported to hold the strongest interest in a deal, though the Reds have already rejected bids from both Mainz and Wolfsburg this summer.
And according to newspaper Eindhovens Dagblad, the Eredivisie club are prepared to wait until later in the summer to secure his signing – in a package that could break their transfer record.
Journalist Rik Elfrink writes that PSV “continue to push” for the 22-year-old, but “do not expect a transfer to be completed in the short term.”
Any deal is likely to take place “further into August,” when Liverpool return from the US, with PSV ready to present a “hefty offer” – though they would stop short of €20 million (£16.8m).
Van den Berg, it is claimed, “would be ‘in’ for the step to the Eredivisie,” with Elfrink speculating that it could pave the way for a Netherlands call-up.
Previous reports from Eindhovens Dagblad claimed that PSV would be willing to pay closer to €16 million (£13.4m) for his services.
That would represent a club-record transfer, with their most expensive outlays to date being €15 million each to sign Hirving Lozano and Jerdy Schouten in 2023.
PSV consider the prospective arrival of Van den Berg as rendering their summer business “almost complete,” with the club clearly banking on him joining Peter Bosz’s squad.
While the centre-back is being given a chance to impress in pre-season, the expectation is that he will be allowed to leave Liverpool this summer.
This comes with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez all due to rejoin Jarell Quansah in the defensive ranks later in pre-season, while youngster Amara Nallo is also primed to step up.
Much will depend on the size of offers made for Van den Berg, of course, with Liverpool also set to part ways with Nat Phillips, Rhys Williams and Billy Koumetio this summer.
Williams and Koumetio are already attracting interest from a number of clubs in England, Scotland, France and Turkiye.
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