Liverpool have agreed a deal with Dutch club PEC ZWOLLE over the signing of their highly rated defender Sepp van den Berg which will be completed in July subject to international clearance. The teenager will sign a long term deal with the European champions after an agreement was reached with the Eredivisie club.
Van den Berg told Liverpoolfc.com: “It’s just an amazing feeling. “It is, for me, the biggest club in the world and it’s a dream come true. I am really excited. “I’ve seen what kind of players from the Academy grew into the first team here. It is unbelievable, especially when this kind of big club does that.
“Of course, the trainer [Jürgen Klopp] is a great guy and one of the reasons they are successful – and also one of the reasons I came here. “I think this is the best place for me to grow and hopefully play a lot of games here.”
When asked about how he feels to be joining Liverpool and on what he felt when he heard Liverpool are interested in him, the 17-year-old said it’s hard to put it into words. Can I put it into words? It’s just amazing. It is, for me, the biggest club in the world and it’s a dream come true.
"It’s just amazing. It is, for me, the biggest club in the world and it’s a dream come true. I am really excited." ?
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) June 27, 2019
I am really excited. I couldn’t believe it, I thought it was a joke. I was really happy and, to be honest, I was a little bit scared at first because such a big club had interest in me. So, I was a little bit scared but eventually, I was really excited. Yeah, I am really happy to be here and looking forward to next season.
The Dutch U-19 also said he believes Liverpool is the best club for him. When I came here for the first time, it directly gave me a good feeling. The people who work here were really nice to me and everybody I met was really nice, so it gave me a good feeling – a family feeling, and that’s very important for me. I am a little bit of a family guy, so it was hard to leave home to come here, but I saw how the people looked after me. It gave me a really good feeling.
When asked if the Dutch stars at Liverpool were part of the reasons why he decided to join the club, he said: Not really, but I was thinking about [the idea of] training with Virgil. For me, he is the best defender in the world right now, so I can learn a lot from him.
He also spoke of what he hopes to achieve at the club. Longer-term, I hope I can play as much as possible here for the club. Short-term, [my target is] to be with the first team, develop myself, grow into the team and see how it goes. Long-term, I really want to be a legend here.
Van den Berg made 15 appearances in the Dutch top flight last season, helping Zwolle to a 13th place finish. He is also an international for the Netherlands at U19 level, winning four caps to date.