There aren’t too many players that would willingly leave Liverpool, however, being unable to make it at the storied Premier League outfit is a good enough reason to move on.
Jurgen Klopp has always appeared keen to promote talent from within.
Indeed, with transfer fees for the very best players rising at an incredible rate these days, bringing through youngsters from academies can be a far more cost effective scenario.
If the player’s football grounding and education has been via a long-term academy stint too, they generally understand what it means to play for the shirt.
A player on hundreds of thousands of pounds per week can’t necessarily be expected to foster the same kind of love for the badge as someone that makes debut for a club where he’s spent his footballing formative years.
Sepp van den Berg spent his youth career at home town club, PEC Zwolle, before making his senior debut with them.
The now 21-year-old quickly then moved to Liverpool but things haven’t worked out quite the way both player and club intended, perhaps indicating that he may have been better off staying at PEC Zwolle for a little longer.
A loan spell at Preston North End was followed by another at Schalke, and he’s now just starting a loan stint at Jurgen Klopp’s old club, Mainz.
Without having played a single Premier League game for the Reds in four years, per transfermarkt, the player has now admitted he could move on permanently from the Anfield outfit next year.
“Of course I can imagine staying in Mainz for more than one season,” he was quoted as saying by BILD.
“Liverpool are a big club, maybe the biggest in the world, but it’s very difficult to assert yourself there.”
The player’s admission about the possibility of leaving Liverpool is understandable, given the competitive nature of the club and the challenges of breaking into the first team. While Liverpool is undoubtedly one of the biggest clubs in the world, finding regular playing time and asserting oneself among established stars can be a daunting task.