Liverpool have sanctioned another loan move for Sepp van den Berg, with the teenage defender returning to Preston, but no decisions have been made as yet on Nat Phillips, Rhys Williams and Ben Davies.
The Reds will allow the promising Dutch centre-half to spend the 2021-22 campaign at Deepdale, having seen him make 16 appearances for Preston last season.
Van den Berg has only taken in four competitive appearances for his parent club and needs regular game time in order to further his development as he faces fierce competition for places at Anfield.
What has been said?
Van den Berg told Preston's official website on securing another switch: "I’m very pleased.
"I said it last season at the end that I would love to come back and I was really happy it worked out. I’m just looking forward to playing a whole season now and playing from the start.
"Hopefully I’ll see the fans very soon and of course see the players and the staff again. I really enjoyed last season so I’m just really excited for the upcoming season."
Head coach Frankie McAvoy said: "We’re absolutely delighted. We’re very grateful to Liverpool for allowing him to come back here and obviously to Sepp for choosing to come back to us.
"He loved his time here last season. He’s a young boy learning his trade and for me he’s fitted in well with a group that made him feel welcome and a part of it.
"He came as a right centre-back. He didn’t get many games playing in that position, but he fitted in really well as a right-back and then as a right wing-back. I thought he was fantastic. I think he’s done really well and we’ll see how he does at right centre-back.
"What he’s got to try and do is go again for the second time and hopefully produce what I and the coaching staff believe that he’s capable of."
The bigger picture
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While Van den Berg is first through the exits at Liverpool, it may be that other members of a well-stocked crop of centre-halves tread a similar path in the coming weeks.
Jurgen Klopp was left short at the back last season, as untimely injuries disrupted his plans, but the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip are returning to fitness.
Ibrahima Konate has also been snapped up, meaning that regular game time will be in short supply for some.
Phillips and Williams ended the 2020-21 campaign as a promising partnership, but the latter is likely to be loaned out this summer as the highly-rated 20-year-old seeks important minutes.
Liam Millar, Ben Woodburn and Sheyi Ojo are among the other academy graduates that the Reds are having to make decisions on with another window now open.
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