'You do want to hinder my future' - Liverpool's forgotten man demands Reds exit in bombshell interview

The Dutch defender joined the Reds in 2019 from PEC Zwolle but in the last five years he made just foursenior appearances for the club and had three different loan spells at Preston North End, Schalke and most recently Mainz.

The Reds are now looking to sell the player permanently in the upcoming summer transfer and have set a price at £20 million ($25.6m) amid interest from Premier League clubs Brentford and Southampton. Mainz too attempted to make his signing permanent for under £5m ($6m) but the Merseyside club are not ready to let him leave for such a small sum of money.

In an explosive interview with De Telegraaf, the 22-year-old claimed that the Premier League giants are trying to spoil his future as he said, "I knew that I couldn't get from PEC Zwolle [straight] to Liverpool's first team. I could have been at Liverpool for one or two more years, but I wanted to play with all my might. I demanded to be [loaned] out. Every time, because I felt that I was getting better and better. I also made great strides physically.

"Just the whole [first] season. On the one hand, that was great. Yes, how does that work, you're 17, 18 years old, you're central to the defence in training against the starting XI, you have to build up and then Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mo Salah come running towards you. It was tough, but I enjoyed it. But in all honesty, I wasn't looked after anymore. I also felt 'ready' [in 2021]. I had a good conversation with the management. He said he had received good reports. I understood that I wasn't going to play Van Dijk, Matip or Konate out [the team]. But I thought I could be right behind it. When I didn't get a chance again, I said: 'Figure it out, I want to leave."

He added, "You (Liverpool) didn't exude confidence in me all this time, but you do want to hinder my future. I want to keep playing every week and develop myself further. In Germany, I enjoy Dortmund away with 70,000 people, Bayern Munich away against Harry Kane, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Leverkusen, against clubs like that I am challenged every week."

The young defender who appeared in 36 games across all competitions this season for the German side, will aim to find an amicable solution with the Premier League giants to seal a move away from the club.