Manchester City fans are very much looking forward to the January transfer window amid a difficult period for the club.
Manchester City are on a four-game losing streak at the moment, and Pep Guardiola has a number of issues to fix before the next game with Tottenham Hotspur.
The defensive woes have been well-documented.
City have really struggled to keep clean sheets this year, and there is also a real lack of protection for the defence due to having no Rodri.
Fans are hoping to potentially see a couple of additions in January and also some next summer when Hugo Viana comes in, and City have now been linked with a former Liverpool player who has been impressing in the Premier League.
Pep Guardiola eyeing up move for Brentford defender Sepp van den Berg
It has been claimed by Football Transfers that Pep Guardiola has his sights set on two defenders.
They are Jeremie Frimpong, who has been linked a few times with City previously. It was suggested Manchester City could target Frimpong if Kyle Walker left next year.
But Guardiola is apparently also keen on signing Brentford defender Sepp van den Berg.
The Dutchman joined the Bees from Liverpool in the summer, after having a number of loan spells away from the Reds during his time at Anfield.
Despite Jurgen Klopp hailing him as ‘a big talent’, van den Berg only ever made four appearances for Liverpool’s first-team, with all of those coming in cup competitions.
But the star has been impressive for Brentford so far this term, making 12 appearances so far.
According to Football Transfers, Guardiola has actually had an eye on van den Berg since he was at Liverpool, around the time he went on loan to Preston North End (February 2021 until the summer of 2022).
And apparently, City even asked Liverpool about van den Berg’s availability, but the Reds then accepted an offer from Brentford, though to be worth about £25 million (initial £20 million, plus potential £5 million in add-ons).
FT say a source has told them van den Berg would be unlikely to be move until next summer at the earliest.
van den Berg is one to watch
This is quite the claim from FT, given van den Berg has only just joined Brentford.
But it could well be true that City have kept tabs on the player since he was at Liverpool and it’s not out of the question the club could’ve looked into signing him as the Reds came to sell him in the last window.
So far, van den Berg has done really well at the Gtech Community Stadium and clearly has the trust of Bees manager Thomas Frank, who has handed him nearly 1000 minutes of game time so far.
The versatile youngster has played all across the Brentford backline, and that versatility will probably make him very appealing to Guardiola.
Bundesliga expert Ronan Murphy described van den Berg as ‘an aerial monster’ following his spell with Mainz last season (via Brentford official).
van den Berg is also rapid, despite being 6ft 4in tall. He clocked a top speed of 34.78 km/h last season (via Daily Mail). With Kyle Walker potentially set to move on next summer, van den Berg might just be someone for fans to keep an eye on.
