Whether Liverpool have a buy-back clause on Sepp van den Berg after Erling Haaland praises £25m centre-back

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Liverpool are almost certain to sign a new centre-back in 2026 after failing to bring Marc Guehi to the club on transfer deadline day.Despite the Reds buying Giovanni Leoni during the summer, they clearly felt the need to add one more to Arne Slot’s squad.Since then, Leoni has been ruled out for the season with a serious knee injury, leaving Slot with only three senior centre-halves to call upon.There is real uncertainty over Ibrahima Konate’s Liverpool future too, meaning the Reds could be down to just two options – Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez – by the start of next summer’s transfer window.It is in stark contrast to the summer of 2024, when Liverpool nominally had five centre-backs on the books, with Sepp van den Berg arriving back from a stellar loan spell at Mainz.Van den Berg ultimately joined Brentford for £25m, with the youngster seeing no pathway to the first XI at Anfield. The Dutchman has since established himself in the Premier League with the Bees, and after Van den Berg earned praise from Erling Haaland on Sunday, is there a chance Liverpool look to bring him back?Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty ImagesLiverpool do not have a buy-back clause on Sepp van den BergVan den Berg has not been the only promising young centre-back to leave Liverpool over the past 18 months.

Jarell Quansah has also departed, joining Bayer Leverkusen in July.Reports have since suggested that Liverpool still see a future at Anfield for Quansah, and have inserted a reasonable buy-back clause into his contract in Germany.READ MORE: ‘Special’ Liverpool player pulls out of international duty with mysterious injury after Chelsea cameoBut with Van den Berg continuing to do well at Brentford – and attracting praise from arguably the best centre-forward in the game – did the Reds take a similar approach with the 23-year-old?Unfortunately, reports from the time of his sale suggest that Liverpool did not add a buy-back juncture to Van den Berg’s move to Brentford.As per The Athletic, there is no mention of the Reds agreeing to a future fee for the Netherlands U21 international.They do reportedly possess a 17.5% sell-on clause to bank any profit if Van den Berg leaves Brentford. But, sadly, there is no mechanism for Liverpool to easily bring him back to Anfield.Van den Berg could still be an option for LiverpoolDespite the lack of a buy-back in Van den Berg’s contract, Liverpool fans should not rule the former Zwolle man out of being an option in the transfer market.Slot appeared to be a fan of Van den Berg during their short time together, and if he can step things up for Brentford in the coming months, maybe Liverpool could look to him again.Having been signed by the Reds as a 17-year-old, Van den Berg would also count towards the homegrown quota for Slot, something that is important given the current rules.Clearly, the Brentford man is not quite good enough to be a starter for Liverpool, but as a third or fourth-choice option Slot could do far worse.If Van den Berg can keep earning praise from the likes of Haaland, perhaps Liverpool will take a second look.