Sporting director confirms Liverpool will fight Napoli for 6’5″ midfielder
Genk sporting director Dimitri De Conde has claimed that Liverpool and Napoli are locked in a battle to sign their 6’5″ midfielder Sander Berge.
Goal reported that De Conde gave an interview to Italian radio station Radio Punto Nuovo, in which he outlined which European sides were after the 21-year-old.
It should come as no surprise to learn that the Norwegian has interested both sides in his Champions League group after playing every minute of the European competition for Genk.
De Conde explicitly said that both Napoli and Liverpool want Sander Berge, while highlighting that Jurgen Klopp complimented the defensive midfielder after the Anfield game.
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A move in January probably won’t happen, although the sporting director refused to rule it out. “Our intention is to hold on to Sander until the end of the season, but we can’t make any predictions,” he told the radio station.
Genk want to keep the Norway international until the end of the season as they are currently fighting to meet their own goals, but money talks and especially good money to a side based in Belgium.
Sander Berge joined his current side in 2017 and made 40 appearances last season as he grew into his role.
With his 6’5″ frame you’d expect the youngster to make his presence felt across the field and he’s been able to do that in the Champions League, winning tackles and interceptions throughout his four games in the competition.
He started his career at Asker before moving to Vålerenga in 2015. 43 games later and Berge was on the way to Belgium after his side accepted a £1.80 million offer. He’s now played 102 times for Genk and picked up 19 caps for his homeland – good stats at his age.
| Defe | Defe | Defe | Defe | Defe | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Day | Round | Venue | Result | Squad | Opponent | Start | Min | Tkl | Int | Fls | CrdY | CrdR |
| 2019-09-17 | Tue | Group Stage | Away | L 2–6 | be Genk | at RB Salzburg | Y | 90 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019-10-02 | Wed | Group Stage | Home | D 0–0 | be Genk | it Napoli | Y | 90 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019-10-23 | Wed | Group Stage | Home | L 1–4 | be Genk | eng Liverpool | Y | 90 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019-11-05 | Tue | Group Stage | Away | L 1–2 | be Genk | eng Liverpool | Y | 90 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4/4 | 360 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Provided by FBref.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/17/2019.
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Berge is now valued at a healthy £19.80 million, say Transfermarkt, a sum that has increase by more than £10 million since January 2018.