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Liverpool could make more than £50m from Brentford from this summer’s deals after selling Sepp van den Berg to the London club for £25m.
Thomas Frank had already signed Fabio Carvalho for £27.5m and has now brought Van den Berg to the Gtech Community Stadium for an initial £20m, plus £5m in add-ons. The defender has signed a five-year contract with the Bees.
Liverpool will also have a 17.5 percent sell-on clause, as they do for Carvalho.
Brentford saw off interest from German champions Bayer Leverkusen for the 22-year-old defender, who made four appearances for Liverpool.
Van den Berg has not played for the Merseyside club since February 2020 and has gone out on loan in the last four seasons, with two stints in the Championship with Preston being followed by two spells in Germany, with first Schalke and then Mainz.
The Dutchman, who joined from Zwolle in 2019, will represent another profit from a fringe player for Liverpool, who sold midfielder Bobby Clark to Salzburg for £10m. New director of football Richard Hughes has negotiated deals which have reached Liverpool’s valuations of a trio who were not earmarked for major roles and sales were a significant part of Liverpool’s summer strategy.
However, they are the only Premier League club who are yet to make a summer signing, though they are closing in on a move for goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Brentford travel to Anfield on Sunday, giving Carvalho an early return to Anfield, and Van den Berg’s transfer has been completed in time for him to be eligible to feature.
“I’m very pleased that we have managed to sign Sepp,” said Frank. “I think this is a great signing for the club and the team.
“Sepp is a centre-back with a good level and he has the potential to develop even further. He fits our culture and the way we want to play: he is quick, he reads the game well and is composed on the ball in the build-up and in the decisive defending actions.
“Sepp is a great character, and I am convinced that he will fit in well with the group and help us to push forward.”
