Bayern Munich tried calling Sepp van den Berg during his Liverpool medical

The summer transfer window really is silly season. In the latest twist to Bayern Munich’s summer transfer excursions, they wound up calling Dutch target Sepp van den Berg while he was in the middle of having his medical check to complete his move to Liverpool from Dutch side PEC Zwolle. The 17-year old had been on Bayern’s radar, but he’s now signed for Liverpool on a five year deal worth 1.5 million euros.

Per the report by The Times, representatives from Bayern repeatedly tried to call Van den Berg and his representatives in a last-stitch effort to convince him to sign for Bayern instead of Liverpool. The calls, however, went unanswered, the medical proceeded as expected and the deal for the 17-year-old was officially completed.

Van den Berg is the first official signing that Liverpool have made this summer after Jürgen Klopp’s side won the UEFA Champions League title for the 6th time in the club’s history. Klopp previously said that Liverpool still need to make quality investments to keep pace with Manchester City in the Premier League.

Should Bayern be worried, or is this small potatoes?

It’s easy to focus on the negatives of this transfer window thus far. Negotiations falling through with Leroy Sané from Manchester City, Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax, and most recently, Ozan Kabak from VfB Stuttgart, who has decided to join Schalke 04 instead of Bayern. Niko Kovac recently stated that Bayern still need to make at least four more quality signings in order to have a complete squad, but since we are already approaching the beginning of July, whoever else the club brings in won’t have a full pre-seasons with the rest of the squad.

Van den Berg wound up costing Liverpool only around 1.5 million euros, which is pocket change for most top European clubs, but the fact of the matter is Bayern lost out on another promising prospect. It’s also a bit concerning that frantic phone calls were made during his medical to try to get him to budge at the last minute. It looks a bit desperate, especially for a player with such a low price tag. Should we be more concerned about this as Bayern fans in consideration of the fact that most of our top targets have chosen not to come to Bayern, or is this something that’s simply beyond the control of Kovac, Salihamidzic, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Uli Hoeness, and the rest of the club’s front office?

(Photo by Sebastian Widmann/Bongarts/Getty Images)