Liverpool have nothing to lose from signing teenage Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg, according to his former boss Jaap Stam.
Van den Berg joined Liverpool from Eredivisie side PEC Zwolle on Thursday in a reported €1.5million (£1.3m) deal that could rise by a further €3.5m with add-ons.
The 17-year-old has featured 22 times in the top tier of Dutch football and is rumoured to have been courted by clubs across Europe, including Bayern Munich, Ajax and PSV.
And Stam, who managed Van den Berg during his half-season in charge of Zwolle in 2018-19, insisted Liverpool are signing a player with plenty of potential.
I’m really happy to sign for this amazing club! Words can’t discribe how thankfull I am. I feel honoured to say that I am now a player!! I’m looking foward to next season, see you soon!
— Sepp Van Den Berg (@SeppVanDenBerg3)
Sepp is a very talented player, we ve said that many times at PEC Zwolle, Stam told a news conference on Sunday.
We all know how this world works, so it s inevitable that a player makes a transfer at a certain point in his career.
We know that English and Spanish clubs scout all over the world, but especially in the Netherlands for talented Dutch defenders, because they re known to be good with their feet.
Those clubs usually have enough money lying around to take a risk and sign a few of them and see if it pays off in the long run.
If it works out, great. If it doesn t, they ll probably sell them for more money than before. In the end it s up to the clubs, but I wish Sepp all the best and I hope he ll turn out to be a big success story at Liverpool.
Welcome to Liverpool FC, Sepp have agreed a deal with PEC Zwolle for the transfer of Sepp van den Berg
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
Stam has taken over as Feyenoord head coach ahead of the new season, but he did not try to bring Van den Berg across from Zwolle.
We haven t talked about that, he said when asked if the in-demand defender was one of his transfer targets.
Looking back at the situation we were in at PEC Zwolle, we were battling against relegation. In those cases, you have to make sure that the available players are of the sufficient level to perform week in week out.
In those cases, you don t have time to educate and to develop, which sometimes could hurt the development of youth players. But to be very clear about the subject if the youth players show they are ready, they get a shot.
