Ryan Gravenberch is starting to show why Manchester United were keen on him with Erik ten Hag’s former Ajax favourite impressing at Premier League rivals Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp might have been reluctant to throw the £34 million deadline day signing from Bayern Munich in at the deep end but, opening his Liverpool account against Union Saint Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday, it now feels like only a matter of time before Ryan Gravenberch is a regular fixture in the Reds XI.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United also held talks with Bayern over Gravenberch in the final two weeks of the summer window. Ten Hag obviously felt that Sofyan Amrabat – a more defensively-minded option – was the bigger priority, however.
Thus, leaving the door wide open for their rivals from down the M62.
Man United held Ryan Gravenberch talks
“He is technically incredibly good. The first touch is insane,” Klopp tells the Liverpool website of the ‘top class’ Gravenberch, a first Premier League start potentially coming his way against Brighton on Sunday.
“(He is a) really good shooter. He’s a really good player.
“Yes, he came late and, yes, we play slightly different and, yes, (he) needs time to adapt and that’s what we can give him, thank God. And he’s completely happy with it.
“He can see what the other boys do in similar positions. He can watch it, he learns from it. He’s a smart boy. So, everything goes in the right direction, that’s really, really nice to see.
“(Gravenberch is) very important for us.”
United signed Sofyan Amrabat instead
Gravenberch was a key cog in Ten Hag’s whirring Ajax machine, accumulating a trio of Eredivisie titles between 2019 and 2022.
Interestingly, fellow Eredivisie export Amrabat also played under the United boss at the beginning of his career, catching the eye at FC Utrecht long before he was marshalling Morocco to the semi-finals of the Qatar World Cup.
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