What Arne Slot said on outgoing transfers as 2 Liverpool players unused in friendlies

Fabio Carvalho was not involved in Liverpool’s two Anfield friendlies and Arne Slot has confirmed “an agreement is in place” as he discussed outgoings, which could include Sepp van den Berg.

It emerged on Saturday that Carvalho was close to completing a permanent transfer to Brentford and thus his absence at Anfield on Sunday was to be expected.

The 21-year-old was not named in either squad against Sevilla and Las Palmas and Slot spoke of the situation to reporters after the back-to-back Games.

He said: “From what’s been told to me, there is an agreement in place, but I haven’t spoken with our club.

“I was fully focused today on this Game, so I don’t know exactly what the status of him is, but that was, of course, the reason why he wasn’t selected today.”

The deal with Brentford is worth up to £27.5 million including add-ons and is to include a sell-on clause, meaning Liverpool will benefit from any potential profit from a future sale.

No hints on another possible transfer

As for Van den Berg, the centre-back is reportedly wanted by 11 clubs, and after failing to see a minute of action against either Spanish side it hinted a move could be imminent.

Virgil van Dijk, Jarell Quansah, Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konate, Nat Phillips and 17-year-old Amara Nallo all got minutes, but the Dutchman never came off the bench against Las Palmas.

While it remains to be seen where his future lies, Slot said it was a fitness concern not a looming transfer that meant he did not feature.

“It was load management, as we call it,” the head coach said of Van den Berg.

“And a player like Nat, who is training with us for a long time, deserves to have some playing time as well.

“It’s a combination of a player already playing a lot of minutes and we don’t want to take the risk of him getting injured, as we don’t want with anyone.

“With him, we thought it was best for him not to start and that all had to do with load management, and that Nat also deserved to play.”

Stuttgart, Hoffenheim, Mainz, Wolfsburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Monchengladbach are among those interested in the 22-year-old.