Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen keen on signing Liverpool star, Reds set to demand £25m fee for sale - Reports

Liverpool's transfer window is finally heating up after nearly two months of inactivity. While news of the club being on the verge of making their first signing broke earlier today, it seems like there could be movement on the outgoing front as well.

Promising center-back Sepp van den Berg is attracting interest from Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen. According to Bundesliga expert Florian Plettenberg, the German side is reportedly looking at a permanent deal for the Reds midfielder.

The English giants have set the price of £25 million for the Dutchman, who joined them back in 2019 from Eredivisie side PEC Zwolle. Since then he has gone on loan to Preston North End, Schalke, and Mainz and only made four appearances for the Reds' senior team.

Van den Berg wants Liverpool to let him leave

The 22-year-old is attracting interest from a host of clubs with Premier League clubs Brentford and Southampton reportedly interested. Mainz, where he was on loan, also are looking at the defender but are unlikely to stump up the asking fee.

The Merseyside club are seemingly open for a sale at a price but it remains to be seen if Bayer Leverkusen matches the six-time European champions' asking price. Earlier this window, Sepp van den Berg had expressed his desire to De Telegraaf to end his stop-start stint with the 19-time English champions.

"You [Liverpool] didn't exude confidence in me all this time but you do want to hinder my future. I want to keep playing every week and develop myself further," he said in an explosive interview. "But in all honesty, I wasn't looked after anymore. I also felt 'ready' [in 2021]."

"I had a good conversation with the management. He said he had received good reports. I understood that I wasn't going to play Van Dijk, Matip or Konate out [the team]. But I thought I could be right behind it. When I didn't get a chance again, I said: 'Figure it out, I want to leave,'" revealed the Dutchman.

The defender spoke about how he had got what he demanded when he asked to be loaned out to aid with his development, a move which helped him with his physicality.

"I knew that I couldn't get from PEC Zwolle [straight] to Liverpool's first team. I could have been at Liverpool for one or two more years but I wanted to play with all my might. I demanded to be [loaned] out. Every time, I felt that I was getting better and better. I also made great strides physically," the defender said.

Van den Berg hinted that his future might lie in Germany as he has enjoyed playing there.

"In Germany, I enjoy Dortmund away with 70,000 people, Bayern Munich away against Harry Kane, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Leverkusen, against clubs like that I am challenged every week," he said.

The young defender, who made 36 appearances with Mainz last season, is behind captain Virgil van Dijk, Frenchman Ibou Konate, and youngster Jarrell Quansah in the pecking order at Liverpool.