"£20m mark" - Claim made on Middlesbrough's Rav van den Berg as Crystal Palace plot move | OneFootball

Middlesbrough could face a battle to keep hold of Rav van den Berg in the summer amid interest from Crystal Palace.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Middlesbrough have been told they must hold out for at least £20m for Rav van den Berg as Crystal Palace track the defender.

The Eagles are short on defensive options after Chelsea recalled Trevoh Chalobah, whilst Chadi Riad is out for a lengthy period after suffering a knee ligament injury.

With doubts about the future of skipper Marc Guehi, who was the subject of a big bid from Spurs in the recent window, it seems inevitable that Palace will be in the market for at least one centre-back.

Crystal Palace keen on Rav van den Berg

And, it has been claimed that they are monitoring van den Berg, with the 20-year-old having impressed for Boro since his arrival from Dutch outfit Zwolle.

Despite his age, van den Berg has featured regularly when available, and he is perfectly suited to Michael Carrick’s style with his ability on the ball to go with his strong defensive play.

Of course, with the transfer window now shut, there are no worries for Boro about losing van den Berg in the short-term, but it clearly could become an issue in the summer.

Middlesbrough must demand a big fee for talented Rav van den Berg

So, when quizzed by FLW about how much Boro should demand for van den Berg, fan pundit Jasper made it clear that he rates the Dutchman very highly by Championship standards, as he admitted whether the Teesside outfit win promotion could be key to their chances of retaining the player.

“Palace being interested in van den Berg is both a good and bad thing. The positive is that it shows we do have a good player, and there’s the potential to get a substantial fee for him. However, we would be losing out on, in my opinion, a very good Championship defender.

“I don’t think he’s a like-for-like replacement for Guehi in terms of ability. He’s young, he developed quickly, and then plateaued a bit at Boro, and I think his performances in the remainder of the season will determine his value. I think it could be anywhere from £15m to £25m depending on how he plays. Right now, I’d have him around the £20m mark, similar to Emmanuel Latte Lath. He’s a top player, he’s young, and has a lot of quality.

“He has a lot of attributes that Premier League clubs look for in terms of ability on the ball, but, I think he, and the defence as a whole, need to improve, and it’s hard to sell a player when the performances aren’t there.

“You need a nice spell for him towards the end of the season, where he will hopefully help us get promotion through the play-offs, and then we can assess again in the summer, where we can see what bids come in, how important he is, and whether we can keep him if we’re a Premier League club.

“If we’re a Championship club, and a Premier League club comes in, we’ll probably have to sell, but hopefully we’ll be in a position where we can get a good fee for him of around £20m.”

The immediate focus for van den Berg will be helping Middlesbrough in their quest to win promotion, with Carrick’s side back in action on Wednesday night at Sheffield United as they look to move back into the play-off places.