Sepp van den Berg from Liverpool to Sheffield United: Is it a good move? Would he start? What does he offer? | OneFootball

Sheffield United have entered the race to sign Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg with a transfer tussle seemingly taking place for his signature.

According to the Daily Mail, Sheffield United are competing with Blackburn, Watford, and Burnley all in the race to sign the youngster, so the Blades may have to work quickly to get a deal done.

Van den Berg spent the last 18 months on loan at Preston and impressed during his time at Deepdale, but has been linked with a move back to the Championship in search of regular game time.

With Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate, and Joe Gomez all battling it out for regular minutes, he looks set for a loan move away from Anfield. Klopp has already sent out 21-year-old defender Rhys Williams on loan to Blackpool in order to gain further experience and Van den Berg could follow suit.

With Sheffield United now throwing their hat in the ring, it will give Van den Berg plenty of food for thought as he chooses his next move.

He would fit into how Paul Heckingbottom wants to play, having thrived in a back three at Preston, but also offers some much-needed versatility as the Dutchman is able to play as a right wing-back as well, something Heckingbottom has been after since Jayden Bogle’s injury.

It does add another loan signing into the Blades squad though, bringing the quota to five, which is the maximum that can feature in a matchday squad.

One thing you would have to ask is, is he better than the current back three? Well, he would be one of the most inexperienced and will most certainly be behind Chris Basham in the pecking order initially as he’s likely to take up that right centre-back role. With Anel Ahmedhodzic impressing as well, it will be hard seeing Van den Berg forcing his way into the back three.

As a right wing-back, he doesn’t offer the same dynamism that George Baldock provides to the side with much of the creativity in the Blades setup coming from wide areas.

On that basis, it would be a good move, but only as a squad option and with Van den Berg needing to play first team football, it would make sense for him to look elsewhere for a challenge.