Rarely has the financial muscle of the Premier League been more apparent than with the £25 million deal Liverpool agreed in the final few days of the summer window.
The Anfield giants have always had a reputation for selling fringe players for remarkable fees.
And, despite never making a single Premier League appearance in Liverpool colours, Sepp van den Berg became the latest big-money departure when making an initial £20 million switch to Brentford, following in the footsteps of fellow benchwarmers Dominic Solanke, Jordon Ibe and Fabio Carvalho.
The fearsome financial firepower at the disposal of clubs in England’s top flight, meanwhile, has seen a massive disparity emerge between the Premier League and Europe’s other major leagues.
See Dean Huijsen leaving Juventus for Bournemouth, Mats Wieffer and Matt O’Riley giving up on Champions League football for Brighton and Hove Albion.
The deal which took Van den Berg to Brentford lands in a similar category.
Brentford won race for Liverpool’s Sepp van den Berg
Van den Berg was heavily linked with German champions Bayer Leverkusen. Eredivisie giants PSV Eindhoven made their interest in the former PEC Zwolle starlet known too.
But once Brentford signalled their intention of meeting Liverpool’s £20 million-plus price-tag, PSV wasted little time turning their attention to Ko Itakura.
Itakura eventually joined for half the fee Brentford paid for Van den Berg.
“Yes, because this market has been completely different from before,” Earnest Stewart, PSV’s techical director, tells Voetbal International when asked if he is satisfied about how the summer turned out.
“I am really happy that we were able to do a lot in the beginning by signing Sergino Dest and Malik Tillman, and attracting Couhaib Driouech and Ryan Flamingo. Then, you have done enough up front.
“After that, you naturally want to add players.”
“The price has never come down,” Stewart adds after being asked to explain PSV inability to bring Van den Berg to the Philipps Stadium. “In fact, it has only gone up. By Dutch standards, it is no longer possible (to do such a deal).
“Then, you switch (to another target).”
After loan spells at Preston North End, Schalke and Mainz, Van den Berg was open about his desire to leave Liverpool for a club willing to offer regular first-team football. He should find that at Brentford, especially with the long-serving Ben Mee no spring chicken these days with his 35th birthday rapidly approaching.
Mainz and PSV missed out on Dutchman
Van den Berg was a colossal presence at the heart of the Mainz backline as The 05ers pulled off a great escape from the Bundesliga relegation zone last term.
Mainz, like PSV, had hoped to pursue a permanent deal for the talented 22-year-old.
That was, however, until it became apparent that Liverpool were in no mood to budge from their eye-watering asking price.
“We would like him to stay and Sepp would also really like to do it,” director Christian Heidel told Sky Germany shortly before Brentford lured both Van den Berg and Carvalho to West London. “But we also respect that Liverpool have not decided about it yet.
“We will not buy a player for over £20 million, which is what Liverpool want. Our club cannot do that.”
Van den Berg came off the bench to make his long-awaited Premier League debut during Brentford’s 3-1 triumph over Southampton on Saturday.
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