Jurgen Klopp has sung the praises of Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg, who could make his debut against Sevilla on Sunday, with the youngster still waiting for international clearance.
The German boss has been impressed with the Dutch 17-year-old and claims he will have to bide his time to earn first-team football in the Premier League.
Klopp did, however, praise the young enforcer, who has starred in pre-season training in the USA for the Reds labelling him as outstanding.
The 52-year-old said in an interview, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo, “With Sepp, he’s just an outstanding talent.”
“It’s not a long-term project where the boy has to think he has to wait five years to play for us, but it’s not for this moment.”
The starlet joined Liverpool from PEC Zwolle, with Sky Sports reporting the initial fee stood at a slender £1.3million.
OPINION
The pre-season trip to the USA was the perfect opportunity for van den Berg to prove to Klopp that he has what it takes to be more than just an academy player next season. Although the German revealed that now wasn’t the right time for the youngster to feature at senior level, if he continues to impress the former Borussia Dortmund boss, he could leave him with no choice but to give him the opportunity. Even if it isn’t in the Premier League, van den Berg could certainly play a major role in cup competitions for the Reds. The former PEC Zwolle defender is certainly capable of making the step up after impressing in Holland, making 15 Eredivisie appearances and averaging 1.3 tackles on top of 2.7 clearances per game according to WhoScored. Klopp will not want to send van den Berg in at the deep end, but the 17-year-old will be ready and waiting for the call, with all he can continue to do is impress the boss while on pre-season.
