Liverpool could lose defender Sepp van den Berg for a similar fee to what they paid for him, with Mainz expected to trigger a buyout clause for their loanee.
Van den Berg ended the season with a goal that effectively secured Mainz’s place in the Bundesliga for the following season, scoring the second in a 3–1 win over Wolfsburg.
It ensured Jurgen Klopp’s former club avoided the drop, eventually finishing 13th in the German top flight, and allowed them to get their plans in motion.
One of those appears to be keeping Van den Berg, while Liverpool and Mainz negotiated the buyout clause of the first option in his contract last summer.
According to KickerMainz now intend to activate that clause, which they claim would allow them to sign the Dutchman for “less than €5m”.
That would value a potential move below £4.3m, which is lower than the full fee Liverpool agreed with PEC Zwolle when Van den Berg first moved to Merseyside in 2019.
Although the Reds paid an initial £1.3m for the then 17-year-old, various add-ons would take that to £4.4m.
It remains to be seen whether Van den Berg has achieved all the targets needed to trigger these additions, but either way, there would be some money to be made if he were to join Mainz this summer.
The exact details of the deal with Liverpool are unclear, and it may be that Mainz do not have the option to simply buy the centre-back.
But there appears to be a desire to keep the 22-year-old on a permanent basis after a campaign in which he made 36 appearances and scored three goals.
Van den Berg could still opt to return to Anfield in a bid to impress new head coach Arne Slott in pre-season, with the change in management potentially offering him a better chance of establishing himself in the first team.
A finished solution?
Slott will likely already be aware of his compatriot’s talents, with Van den Berg a regular for the Netherlands U21s and playing 22 times for PEC Zwolle’s senior side as a teenager.
With Joel Matip set to leave Liverpool on a free transfer this summer, the club are expected to target a new centre-back in the transfer market.
But in Van den Berg they could already possess a ready-made alternative to join Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez as Slot options.
Most importantly, he could be a home-grown player, which could be particularly useful in the Premier League and Champions League.
