Ex-Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg explains why he left Anfield for Brentford

In 2019, the Merseyside giants made the decision to pay a reported £4m to sign the then-PEC Zwolle youngster, the hope being that he would develop into a first-team player.

However, in five years contracted to Liverpool, Van den Berg failed to make a Premier League appearance with three of his four outings coming in the EFL Cup.

The appointment of fellow Dutchman Arne Slot made it plausible that Van den Berg could have been kept in the senior ranks for 2024-25, particularly on the back of 33 appearances for Mainz 05 in last season's Bundesliga.

Nevertheless, rather sit down the pecking order at Anfield, the 22-year-old took his chance to move to Brentford for approximately £25m.

"I made the right decision"

Van den Berg has since emerged as a regular for Brentford, making 12 starts and one substitute appearance in all competitions.

As quoted by The Mirror, Van den Berg has suggested that he has moved on from his time with a team that are currently the Premier League leaders.

He said: "I was very clear from the start that I wanted to play this season. At Liverpool you have two of the best centre-backs in the world at the moment.

"To me it was the right moment to leave, I'm at the age when I needed to play.

"I've done it for many years going out on loan. It was time for me to make the permanent move and establish myself as a Premier League player and that's what I'm doing so far. I made the right decision (but) still a long way to go."

Van den Berg a key player at Brentford

Not only has Van den Berg barely missed a minute of Premier League action since the start of September, he has also been used in both full-back positions as well as in the centre.

On Saturday afternoon, he was deployed at right-back as 10-man Brentford earned a goalless draw at Everton, recording their first clean sheet of the season in the process.

Brentford possess the fifth-worst defensive record in the Premier League, conceding 22 goals from their 12 matches.