Liverpool accept £30m bid for wantaway defender - report

Liverpool are reported to have accepted a bid worth a total of £30m for defender Sepp van den Berg from Brentford.

Van den Berg, 22, returned from an impressive loan spell with Bundesliga side Mainz this summer and wasted little time expressing his desire to leave permanently, even hitting out at Liverpool for trying to demand as much as £20m to authorise his departure.

Progress in negotiations with Brentford was made earlier this week and now, according to Sky Sports News, a deal has been struck which could see Liverpool make more than they anticipated from the Dutchman's sale.

Brentford have agreed to pay an initial £25m, plus a further £5m in add-ons, to secure Van den Berg's signature.

However, Van den Berg is yet to give his approval to the move and is considering his options, with Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen known admirers of his.

Xabi Alonso's side would only be able to rival Brentford for Van den Berg's signature if they sell one of their current centre-backs. There is interest in all three of Edmond Tapsoba, Jonathan Tah and Odilon Kossounou.

Florian Plettenberg recently revealed Van den Berg had spoken with Leverkusen manager Alonso over a possible move, but Liverpool's asking price was believed to be problematic even before Brentford's offer was made.

As it stands, Brentford are the only club to present a concrete offer to Van den Berg, who is happy to leave Liverpool permanently after five years struggling to make the breakthrough at Anfield.

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