Sepp van den Berg hopes he will get a serious chance at Liverpool next summer. The defender, who will turn twenty in December, made the switch from PEC Zwolle to the Merseyside club in the summer of 2019, where he has played four games in the main squad so far and has not yet made his league debut. Van den Berg has been leased to Preston North End for the second time, partly at the request of the Dutchman himself.
His first loan spell at Preston was not until February. “I quickly noticed what big steps you can take in six months of Championship. So I thought: if I play there for another year, I really have a chance at Liverpool,” says Van den Berg in conversation with the club. NOS. That is his plan: another strong season with the Lilywhites and then fight for his chance in pre-season at Liverpool.
Van den Berg spoke at Liverpool this summer with compatriot and assistant coach Pepijn Lijnders about his development. “They were happy then. And hopefully even more after this year. Actually, the plan was to participate in the preparations for the first of Liverpool this season, but I myself thought it would be best to be rented out for another year,” explains the defender of the Dutch Juniors, who has a contract with Liverpool until mid-2024. has, out.
Van den Berg also spoke with another compatriot, Virgil van Dijk. “He asked me how I liked Preston and told me that he thought it was a good choice because making minutes is so important.” He learns a lot in the Championship anyway, where Frankie McAvoy’s team takes 16th place after five days of play. “Fighting, fighting, fast pace, up and down, physically demanding. It is precisely in those areas that my greatest improvement lies.”
“Football, you learn that at the Dutch football school, but fighting, I really learn that now.” Van den Berg notices that he is becoming more talkative in the field, and that he is increasingly directing people. “That was also necessary. The move abroad has helped me with that. I have become better socially.” Van den Berg is the youngest player ever to stand between the lines for PEC in an official game. In March 2018, just sixteen years old, he made his debut in the away match at FC Groningen. A week later, his first base place followed, at home against Feyenoord. In total, Van den Berg came to 22 duels for the Zwolle players.