Tuesday 25 June 2019 21:37, UK
Liverpool are battling a host of big European clubs for the signing of Dutch prospect Sepp van den Berg from PEC Zwolle.
Bayern Munich are reported to be desperate to sign the 17-year-old centre-back, Sampdoria bid £2.5m for him in January and Ajax and PSV Eindhoven are also circling.
Liverpool already have four centre-backs in Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren, but view Van Den Berg as a player they can develop for the long term, while also recognising he has the potential to play first-team football immediately if required.
It's understood the club view the player as a similar project and at a similar stage of development as Joe Gomez when he signed from Charlton in 2015.
Due to the stiff competition Liverpool face - Bayern need to replace Mats Hummels who has returned to Dortmund, Ajax are looking for a long-term replacement for Matthijs de Ligt - Van Den Berg's signing would represent a real coup for Michael Edwards and his transfer team.
The next 72 hours are likely to decide the future of the Dutch U19 international.
Follow the Summer Transfer Window on Sky Sports
From July 1st, Sky Sports News will be the home to three new shows dedicated to bringing you the very latest news from this summer's transfer market.
Start your day with Good Morning Transfers at 9am as our team of reporters and pundits bring you the latest news and insight. Transfer Talk then follows at midday delivering the biggest stories that matter to you. And join us at 7pm for the definitive round up of the day's news with The Transfer Show.
And as well as tuning into Sky Sports News, don't miss a thing with our dedicated Transfer Centre blog.
There's also the Transfer Talk Podcast, the daily UK, Regional and European Paper Talk, plus features across skysports.com and the Sky Sports App.
