Sepp van den Berg has failed his audition

Liverpool starlet Sepp van den Berg has failed his audition to be a part of the first team next season.

This conclusion is reached because of the breaking news that the Reds are interested in signing a 20-year-old Bundesliga starlet in what would be a move to replace Dejan Lovren.

Lovren has only played nine Premier League games this season and looks to be on the way out. One man who could have benefited from this is Sepp van den Berg, but it appears as if he won’t be handed the chance to step up to the first team on a permanent basis.

This comes after the 18-year-old featured four times – three in the Carabao Cup and once in the FA Cup – but didn’t really impress during those 270 minutes.

He was signed to some fanfare last summer and had already played 22 games for PEC Zwolle in the Netherlands, but the new interest in Evan Ndicka seems to indicate that Jurgen Klopp doesn’t have any major senior plans for the young Dutchman.

We had hoped we’d see more integration for van den Berg, Ki-Jana Hoever and players of that ilk next season. Hoever burst onto the scene against Wolves in the FA Cup, but has barely featured since and has been forced to watch while Neco Williams steals the glory from right-back.

Now, it’s more likely that we’ll see the pair head off on loan for an extended taste of first team football. It won’t be good for van den Berg or Hoever to hang around as fifth choice/third choice options.

The transfer news allows us to look back on those early league cup games through a different leans. That was clearly an audition for the big time, especially the Arsenal game.

Sepp van den Berg failed his, others passed and we’re seeing the manifestation of that now.