Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign 17-year-old centre-back Sepp van den Berg from PEC Zwolle.
They confirmed the deal on Thursday morning and said it would formally complete on July 1, subject to international clearance.
ESPN journalist Melissa Reddy added more detail to the transfer saying Liverpool had agreed on a £1.3million fee with add-ons of £3.1million. This would be activated if he hits close to 350 appearances for the club in the Premier League and Europe.
#LFC sign Sepp van den Berg, 17, from PEC Zwolle for an initial £1.3 million.
Add-ons of £3.1m would only be activated if the defender was to amass close to 350 appearances for the club in the Premier League and Europe.
— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) June 27, 2019
More exciting news for Liverpool fans is that he hasn’t been signed for the Academy and is expected to progress through to the first team quickly.
van den Berg broke through into the Zwolle first team in the 17/18 season and made 15 Eredivisie appearances last campaign.
https://twitter.com/MelissaReddy_/status/1144168360059518976
VERDICT
If van den Berg does progress through to the first-team quickly then Liverpool have just landed themselves one of the bargains of the summer. If he goes on to make 350 appearances he’ll be a massive Liverpool signing and he’ll have only cost the Reds £4.4million. There hasn’t been any talk of a sell-on fee but PEC Zwolle fans will be hoping there’s a clause in the contract. He’s been bought for the future but if Reddy is right then it might well be the near future. He has the same representatives – Key Sports Management – as Joe Gomez and the belief is that Klopp is going to nurture him in the same way. van den Berg could well slot into a back three at Liverpool, alongside Gomez and Virgil van Dijk, and that could see Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson unleashed to cause even more mayhem in attack after registering 29 assists between them last season.