Ryan Gravenberch’s satisfactory season could give him the platform to explode at Liverpool

Though Ryan Gravenberch enjoyed a solid but unspectacular first season at Liverpool, a surprise series of events could play right into the hands of the Netherlands midfielder.

It is strange that, with all that took place for Liverpool in 2023/24 – a quadruple challenge, a trophy at Wembley and an emotional farewell – the discourse around Merseyside as Arne Slot arrives at the club has been focused on a player whose season could be best described as ‘OK’.

Ryan Gravenberch’s debut campaign at Anfield showed promise, but little to suggest that he would spend the summer at the European Championship as part of the Netherlands squad.

Not least as, soon after he completed his move from Bayern Munich to Liverpool, the midfielder angered manager Ronald Koeman and under-21s coach Michael Reiziger for turning down a call-up for the Jong Oranje as he aimed to settle in at his new club.

But brought back in from the cold – after fruitful talks with KNVB technical director Nigel de Jong at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre – Gravenberch is now poised for a summer back in Germany looking to springboard his way to prominence.

Liverpool had taken a calculated risk when signing the midfielder from Bayern on deadline day, the fourth new arrival in a rebuild of Jürgen Klopp’s engine room to the tune of £38.5 million. Gravenberch had stuttered at Bayern, playing a total of 946 minutes across 34 games as he started only six times under two managers, so his arrival was viewed as a risk.

With a more compassionate manager and four trophies to fight for, however, the opportunities were there for Gravenberch to impress.

He almost doubled his total of minutes played, clocking 1,835 minutes on the pitch for Liverpool and starting in 21 of his 38 appearances. He quadrupled his tally of goals scored (from one to four) and doubled his number of assists (from one to two), including a brilliant first Premier League goal in the 3-1 win at Fulham in April.

But with competition from the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones, Gravenberch had again settled into the role of squad player – only this time, with a slightly more elevated importance.

Gravenberch’s own assessment of his maiden season on Merseyside does, however, put things into perspective.

“I’m satisfied with my season at Liverpool,” he told Algemeen Dagblad after joining up with the Netherlands national team. “I wanted to make more minutes and I succeeded.”

It would perhaps surprise some that Gravenberch only turned 22 in May, having debuted for Ajax in 2018 and his country in 2021, and played 175 times for Ajax, Bayern, and Liverpool already, but while outside expectations are high, it appears the midfielder is grounded about his situation.

“I have played good matches, but also lesser ones. No, I’m not as tired as I am after a season where you’ve played everything. I haven’t played everything. Can that freshness be an advantage [for the Euros]? Well, I’m ready if you ask me.”

And so he should be: while he has long been considered one of the most promising talents in Europe and already represented three of the biggest clubs on the continent, Gravenberch is still very young in his career and should be viewed through that prism.

To put things into perspective, one of his new team-mates, Jones, has just received his first call-up to the England national team at the age of 23. The Scouser was held back by injuries, but he only clocked 196 minutes more than Gravenberch did in 2023/24.

The switch to Bayern proved to be a misstep, but after finding his feet again under Klopp at Liverpool, he has been given the platform to prove himself at the top.

That comes with Liverpool adopting a Dutch twang over the summer with Klopp exiting and Slot arriving, and though he is yet to hold talks with his new head coach, Gravenberch is confident he can thrive under his tutelage.

“I hope to play here for years to come. And soon a Dutch trainer with Arne Slot,” he told Algemeen Dagblad. “No, I’ve never spoken to him. Not even during my time as an Ajax player. But he is a trainer who likes attacking football. That should suit me, you would think. We will see.”

While Klopp’s favoured 4-3-3 system saw Gravenberch split duties between defence and attack as a left-sided No. 8, an expected shift to a 4-2-3-1 under Slot could release the young Dutchman in a more attacking role as a No. 10 or in a more refined duty at the base of midfield.

The promise of displays against the likes of Union SG, Toulouse, LASK, Brentford, Luton, Fulham and West Ham, those nimble, long-legged dribbles out of danger, the powerful efforts from range and the blossoming understanding with new team-mates, could be seen more often with his tasks streamlined.

It may have been a stroke of fortune – or misfortune, if you are the injured Marten de Roon – that has thrust Gravenberch into contention for the Euros, but just as with Liverpool, he is trusted to be there based on proven talent.

Look to 2024/25 as a chance for Gravenberch to break through for once and for all – but first, Group D at the Euros, and clashes with Poland, France and Austria that could see him go from wild card to prodigy all over again.

(Images from IMAGO)

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