Empire of the Kop
·22 August 2024
Liverpool exodus set to continue as Sky Sports drop late-night update on £30m ‘deal in principle’
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Yahoo sportsEmpire of the Kop
·22 August 2024
Liverpool could be set to say goodbye to another player this summer, with a deal being agreed ‘in principle’ over a £30m exit from the club.
Adrian, Joel Matip and Thiago all departed at the end of last season when their contracts expired, while Fabio Carvalho, Mateusz Musialowski and Billy Koumetio have left permanently (with Bobby Clark about to do the same) and the likes of Calvin Ramsay, Rhys Williams, Lewis Koumas and Luca Stephenson have gone out on loan.
As reported by Sky Sports News late on Wednesday night, Sepp van den Berg is also heading for the exit door after Brentford agreed a deal in principle to sign the defender for an initial £25m, with a further £5m in add-ons. It’s now up to the 22-year-old to decide whether he wants the move.
Despite impressing for Liverpool in pre-season, Van den Berg had previously made it clear that he’s gunning for regular football this term, and it seems that he wouldn’t be granted it at Anfield.
With Joe Gomez possibly leaving as well, the 22-year-old’s impending exit heightens the risk of Arne Slot being left threadbare for senior centre-back options, unless the Reds were to bring one in during the final week of the transfer window.
The funds should definitely be there to do so. In addition to receiving £25m-£30m from the Dutch defender’s planned move to Brentford, the Reds have already sold Carvalho in a £27.5m deal and are reportedly set to bank £10m from Clark’s imminent departure to Red Bull Salzburg, on top of freeing up £20m from their annual wage bill due to various exits this summer.
That all adds up to the best part of £90m, not to mention the £51.6m that LFC were reportedly prepared to offer for Martin Zubimendi before he opted to stay put at Real Sociedad.
If Van den Berg ends up joining the Bees for around £30m, that should be the trigger for a frantic end to August for Richard Hughes and Liverpool in terms of long-overdue incomings to Slot’s squad.