Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version or go back to LFC Live.net

Sepp van den Berg pictured battling for the ball with Diogo Jota in a Liverpool pre-season training session in July(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Sepp van den Berg has admitted he spoke to Liverpool legend Xabi Alonso about a summer transfer to Bayer Leverkusen.

But the young defender revealed he couldn't wait for the deal to go through.

Van den Berg called time on his Liverpool career in August after he sealed a £25m move to Premier League rivals Brentford.



Article continues below

But it has since come to the light that the 23-year-old had a number of options including German giants Leverkusen, who are managed by Alonso.

READ MORE:'I lied' - Luis Enrique makes injury admission as PSG name squad for Liverpool tripREAD MORE:'You will all see' - Virgil van Dijk makes new Liverpool demand ahead of massive PSG match

Van den Berg confirmed he spoke to the former Anfield favourite, who was part of the Reds team that famously won the Champions League in 2005, after the defending Bundesliga champions agreed to meet his price tag.

He told VoetbalPrimeur said: "I spoke to Xabi Alonso, as well as to people higher up at Leverkusen.

Leverkusen could pay the transfer fee that Liverpool wanted, but someone had to leave before they could get me.

"I didn't want to wait for that.

Leverkusen, with Xabi Alonso, (Jeremie) Frimpong, Champions League football and trying to become champions of Germany again would have been nice too.

"But I could have gotten the perfect picture at Brentford, while I was still in the waiting room at Leverkusen.

The Dutchman only made four senior appearances for Liverpool during that time, instead spending the majority of it on loan with Preston North End in the Championship and then Schalke and Jurgen Klopp's former club Mainz in the Bundesliga.

He held talks with Klopp's replacement, Arne Slot, before deciding to move to Brentford.

But given the defensive injury problems Reds boss Slot has had to contend with this season, Van den Berg recently admitted that he had wondered whether he should have stayed put.

"I had a few conversations with Slot," he recalled to Voetbal Primeur.

"But before the pre-season started, I already indicated to the club that I wanted to leave and play minutes.

“After the pre-season, Liverpool indicated that I had done so well that they wanted me to stay.