Preston boss Ryan Lowe has admitted that he actually wanted to sign Liverpool loanee Sepp van den Berg for Plymouth Argyle.
North End beat Hull City 1-0 on Saturday afternoon, and whilst Cameron Archer’s goal grabbed all the headlines, Van den Berg reached a big milestone.
Saturday brought up 50 games in a Preston shirt for Van den Berg, reaching a half-century just over a year since arriving.
Let’s be honest, many of us thought that Van den Berg was just a makeweight in the deal for Liverpool to sign Ben Davies.
Few really expected Van den Berg to become a fan favourite at Preston, with fans already dreading the day his loan ends.
An initial six-month loan was extended by a year, meaning Van den Berg will have been with Preston for 18 months by the time he goes.
The Dutchman played as a right wing back without complaining, and is now shining in a more natural right-sided centre back role under Lowe.
Fans want to see Preston sign Van den Berg permanently, but that just doesn’t seem likely given the fee Liverpool would likely demand.
Now, Lowe has admitted to Lancs Live that he knew all about Van den Berg before even arriving at Preston – because he wanted to sign him at Plymouth!
Lowe battled Preston for Van den Berg’s signature in January 2021, but the defender picked a move to North End instead.
Lowe hailed Van den Berg, calling his Preston milestone ‘fantastic’ whilst suggesting that he could reach the same mark with Liverpool in the future.
“Well I did see him (before coming here) because I tried to sign him for Plymouth Argyle!” said Lowe. “He chose to come here and obviously he was always going to do that, because it’s the Championship. But yeah, we know the quality he has got and he’s still a young lad, learning.”
“Again, he is obviously not ours, but he’s been thrusted in to come and play for us, the way we play and he’s becoming a man on a daily basis. His footballing ability is very good but if you ask Sepp, he probably wants to get better and better.”
“He’s certainly helping the team to be that and so if he continues his form – 50 games for Preston is fantastic isn’t it? But I am sure the lad will want to go and play 50 games for his parent club as well, in the future. If we can help him do that, then great,” he added.