WHEN in-demand Rav van den Berg was deciding which club to join last summer and when he was the subject of transfer interest 12 months later after a hugely impressive first season at Middlesbrough, one crucial aspect was at the forefront of his thinking: the importance of regular football.

Van den Berg could have joined giant European clubs such as Ajax, Dortmund or Milan a year ago but wanted to be a key figure on the pitch rather than watching from the stands as he looked to continue his rapid development.

His Boro move has worked out exactly as he hoped so far - so it's little surprise to hear van den Berg tell of the type of advice he offered his brother Sepp when he was preparing to leave Liverpool in the summer.

The Boro defender's older brother was in-demand during the summer window but several clubs were priced out of the race by Liverpool's asking price.

PSV, Feyenoord and Bayer Leverkusen were among those linked before interest from Brentford emerged.

"We are both in football and he asked me: 'What would you do?'", revealed Boro defender van den Berg in conversation with Mee Met Oranje after starring and scoring for the Netherlands Under-21s in a 3-0 win over Sweden on Monday night.

"I told him that playing time was the most important thing and he thought the same. Brentford is a Premier League club, but I said: 'You are good enough for that'.

"Clubs promise you a lot, but Sepp really noticed and felt the trust. The coach also keeps his words, because my brother plays everything. So far it has been a great step."

Only two years separate the van den Berg brothers and Rav, 20, is still learning from Sepp.

"He is fast, takes good care of his body and has a lot of discipline," he says.

"That is perhaps the most difficult thing about football. If you have a match on Saturday, there are a lot of distractions the days before, but you have to focus."

"If I don't have a match myself, I sit in front of the television or go to Brentford. But definitely not by car, that's impossible in London!"

The brothers stress the importance of keeping "their feet on the ground" but that doesn't mean they don't have big ambitions, with Boro defender Rav dreaming of following in the footsteps of twins Jurrien and Quinten Timber and playing alongside Sepp for the Netherlands.

"I want to take a nice step, just like my brother, and we dream of playing together for the Dutch national team one day," he said.

"A scenario like with the Timber brothers would be great. And Sepp definitely has the qualities for that."