Arne Slot faces demand to leave player on first day as Liverpool manager as Jurgen Klopp’s replacement officially begins role

Arne Slot’s first official day as Liverpool manager began with one of his players demanding to leave the club.

Young defender Sepp van den Berg has urged the Reds to arrange a permanent exit for him, accusing the club of “hindering” his future.

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The 22-year-old signed for Liverpool in 2019 from Dutch club PEC Zwolle, but he has only made four first-team appearances since then.

Van den Berg spent much of his time on loan with Premier League giants, most recently Bundesliga side Mainz, where he was a regular.

And it appears he is set to leave Anfield for more consistent first-team action, with new boss Slot potentially set to oversee one of his first team departures as Reds manager.

Speaking to De Telegraaf, Van den Berg admitted he thought it was time to leave and suggested the club had gone back on previous promises regarding his playing time.

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to go (directly) from PEC Zwolle to Liverpool’s first team,” he said. “I could have stayed at Liverpool for another year or two, but I wanted to play with all my strength.

“I asked to be (loaned). Each time, because I felt that I was getting better and better. I also made great progress physically. Just the whole (first) season. On the one hand , it was great.

“Yes, how does it work, you’re 17, 18 years old, you’re in the center of defense in training against the starting XI, you have to step up and then Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah come running. towards you. It was hard, but I appreciated it. But in all honesty, I wasn’t taken care of anymore.

“I also felt ‘ready’ (in 2021). I had a good conversation with the management. He said he had received good reports. I understood that I was not going to play (Virgil) Van Dijk, (Joel) Matip or (Ibrahima) Konate out (the team) But I thought I could be right behind When I didn’t have the chance anymore, I said: “Get it. I want to go. “

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“You (Liverpool) have not shown confidence in me all this time, but you want to hinder my future. I want to continue playing every week and develop more.

“In Germany, I’m enjoying (Borussia) Dortmund away with 70,000 people, Bayern Munich away against Harry Kane, Stuttgart, (RB) Leipzig, (Bayer) Leverkusen, against clubs like this one, I’m challenged every week.”

As James Pearce of The Athletic reports, Liverpool value Van den Berg at around £20million, with Mainz not holding an option to buy as part of his loan deal.

The Dutch defender could therefore be one of the Reds’ first departures this summer, with Slot officially taking over as head coach on Saturday.

He arrives at Anfield to replace Jurgen Klopp after his time at Feyenoord where he won the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup.

Slot is yet to be officially revealed by Liverpool, but he will soon be in action in the dugout for pre-season, which includes a trip to the United States.