Things are going well for Liverpool right now. But it’s not just Jurgen Klopp’s first team stars who are performing well. The club’s plethora of promising young players are also doing exceptional stuff out on loan.
Over the January transfer window, there was plenty of criticism for Liverpool loan transfer policy. The club made several recalls, after there were loans in the first half of the season that didn’t quite work out. Among them were the likes of Fabio Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay. However, both of them have since been sent out on loan elsewhere, where they are already doing well.
One player, though, who did not have to be recalled is Sepp van den Berg. Lauded in the past by Lancashire Live for his ‘excellent’ loan spell at Preston North End, Liverpool’s 22-year-old defender is currently on his second loan spell in the Bundesliga, and he’s absolutely thriving. Yesterday was another example of that, with his teammate even raving about him on social media.
At the weekend, Van den Berg scored Mainz’s winner against Augsburg to help his side to a much needed three points in the Bundesliga. Those three points have now put Mainz just one point away from the relegation play off.
But while Mainz have struggled as a team, Van den Berg has been incredible defensively. He’s actually won the most aerial duels out of defenders in Europe’s top five leagues (102) more than Virgil van Dijk as per FBref.
And he has now also scored twice in the Bundesliga for his team. His performances are now also being recognised by his teammates. On Van den Berg’s latest Instagram post, fellow Mainz defender, Silvan Widmer commented under with a simple captain: ‘Sepp the Wall’ accompanied by a wall and a fire emoji.
Those rave reviews and recognition from his teammates is exactly what Liverpool will want to see. Van den Berg has clearly flourished in his loan spell so far.
