Two 'make or break' players return to Liverpool training grounds as preseason starts
- Liverpool players began preseason training on Friday
- It will be an opportunity for players to impress new manager Arne Slot
- Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg both return to Liverpool as ‘make or break’ players
By Evan Curnew
Friday, July 5th, saw a decent chunk of the Liverpool first-team return to training at Kirkby, including academy players training with the squad. Plenty of players will be looking to impress new manager Arne Slot in the early weeks of training as the Dutch boss decides who he will turn to at the beginning of the Premier League season.
Among those names are two Liverpool players returning from loans and in similar situations where it has become make or break for them at Liverpool: Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg.
Two 'make or break' players return to Liverpool training grounds as preseason starts
Getting the reps in 💪 pic.twitter.com/TQNsiNQEpJ
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 7, 2024
Carvalho and van den Berg have both been linked to moves away this summer with the latter suggesting that it is time for him to move on from Liverpool. However, nothing is imminent for either youngster and now their attention will have turned to impressing Slot in training, not on a potential transfer.
Sepp van den Berg spent last season on loan at Mainz in the Bundesliga, establishing himself as an every-game starter for the German club. Reports from a few weeks ago suggested that Mainz, along with Premier League clubs, is interested in signing the Dutch defender on a permanent deal.
The story is similar for Fabio Carvalho, as the Portuguese youth international spent last season on loan from Liverpool. Carvalho joined Hull City in the winter transfer window, where he won the EFL Young Player of the Month for April 2024. Carvalho was recently linked to the Eredivisie's Feyenoord, where Arne Slot just joined.
Clearly, there is noise around both players' futures at the clubs, and it will be up to each player to decide whether or not they're in it for the long haul at Anfield. Both Carvalho and van den Berg have the potential to be Premier League players in their respective positions, but Liverpool could prove to be too big a step for them.
Liverpool opens their first pre-season match against Real Betis in Pittsburgh, USA, and Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg are expected to be part of the Reds' USA preseason tour.
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