Arne Slot BEGGED centre-back to stay

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was originally hired back in summer 2024.

He of course got off to a great start in his Anfield career - winning the 2024/25 Premier League title. Slot, 47, carried out that historic 20th top-flight win with largely the same squad left to him by Jurgen Klopp.

We saw some players leave that summer -with crowd favourites Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip deciding to retire. And Arne Slot as well as sporting director Richard Hughes managed to conduct some pretty solid outgoing business too.

Bobby Clark was sold to Red Bull Salzburg for £10m - a decent return on an academy player with limited first-team minutes.

Sepp van den Berg: Slot wanted me to STAY

And Brentford also did the Reds a big favour - paying a double fee that could rise to over £50m for Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho.

Van den Berg, now 23, only played four times throughout five years at Anfield - spending most of his time at the club out on loan.

The Dutchman had spells at Preston, Schalke and Mainz - with that latter Bundesliga loan spell solidifying his reputation.

The writing appeared to be on the wall for Van den Berg’s Liverpool career when he returned from Germany and it was well known the club would be open to offers.

However he did spend some time in preseason with Arne Slot’s first-team squad - and the centre-back has now revealed that the new head coach PLEADED with him to stay and sign a new contract.

The Dutch pair spent time at the same club in the Netherlands - PEC Zwolle - and Slot was impressed with his young charge’s effort and endeavour during their brief time together.

Van den Berg got 'proper chance' under Arne Slot

In an interview with the Guardian, Van den Berg praised Slot for giving him a “proper chance” - but added that his mind was made up to leave for pastures new owing to a lack of opportunities.

“The years before, I never had this feeling of me having a proper chance,” he disclosed.

“A few weeks down the line, he was saying: ‘You’re doing very well. I want you to stay.’ If you have the manager of Liverpool saying that, it’s not nothing. So, of course, I started thinking again. ‘Maybe I should stay, maybe I should sign a new contract here.’ It was weird.

“He was open, easy to speak to. We’re both Dutch, so we are very direct. I like that. He told me: ‘You’re not going to start but I believe if you stay you will get a chance in the future to start.’”

Sepp van den Berg - the one that got away?

Van den Berg cost Brentford an initial £20m and he has quietly established himself as one of the best centre-backs outside the Premier League’s leading lights.

He has been a regular in the Bees’ lineup this season and even found himself briefly on the radar of Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.

Given the scale of Liverpool’s centre-back problems - with injuries and contract uncertainty - time will tell whether Van den Berg will go down as the one that got away.

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