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In January, 19-year-old defender Sepp van den Berg joined Preston North End on loan for the second half of the 2020-21 season while the more established Ben Davies headed the other way, joining a Liverpool side in the midst of an injury crisis.
Davies time with the Reds so far hasn’t perhaps gone to plan, with the centre half having yet to make an appearance for Jürgen Klopp’s side, but Davies loan spell went well enough that Preston wanted to bring the youngster back for another round.
Today, it’s official, with Van den Berg joining up with Frankie McAvoy’s Lilywhites for 2021-22 well ahead of pre-season and expected to play a significant role as Preston look to rise from mid-table and into playoff contention in the Championship.
Van den Berg was a regular for Preston after joining at the close of the January transfer window, making his debut five days after his arrival and going on to appear 16 times in second half Championship action for the side that finished 13th.
Many of his appearances came at right back, and the expectation is that the Dutch youth international’s versatility means that he will split time between that role and centre half as needed in the upcoming season.