Liverpool boss Arne Slot has explained why a Reds star linked with an exit from the club did not play in today’s friendly clashes.
The Reds finished their pre-season preparations with two friendlies on Sunday, against Sevilla, a 4-1 win, and against Las Palmas, a 0-0 draw.
The Las Palmas game was played behind closed doors and saw Darwin Nunez, Andrew Robertson and Cody Gakpo made their first friendly bows for Liverpool this summer.
Missing from the games was defender Sepp van den Berg, an unused substitute against Las Palmas.
Van den Berg is wanted by Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, while several sides in the Bundesliga are also keen to sign him following his productive loan stint at Mainz last term.
Slot though indicated there was no transfer reason behind Van den Berg not playing.
“Load management. We don’t want to take the risk of him getting injured”, Slot said in his post match press conference when asked.
“We thought it was best not to start today.
“And Nat [Phillips] also deserved to play.”
The jury is out on whether Van den Berg, who wants to be playing regularly in the new season, will still be at Liverpool when the window shuts.
