Ryan Gravenberch: What would Liverpool’s new target bring to their midfield?

With the signing of Wataru Endo from Stuttgart, Liverpool’s long pursuit for a specialist No 6 finally ended.

But rather than put their feet up for the final two weeks of the transfer window, they decided to refocus. Another multi-faceted, versatile midfielder now topped the agenda, and in Ryan Gravenberch, that is exactly what Liverpool hope to get.

Negotiations with Bayern Munich to secure the 21-year-old on a permanent deal are ongoing, although the move may hinge on the German champions bringing in a replacement before the deadline tomorrow night (Friday).

Gravenberch would become the fourth new midfielder to arrive at Anfield this summer and would represent another building block in a much-needed revamp.

• Read our exclusive interview with Jordan Henderson, on Saudi Arabia transfer and LGBTQ+ concerns
• Henderson ‘only has positive things to say’ about FSG’s Liverpool ownership

He fits the Liverpool profile perfectly: young, versatile, high potential, yet already experienced having clocked up 137 first-team appearances for Ajax and Bayern.

Not so many of the latter came in his 2022-23 debut season, as his €24million (£20.6m/$26.1m at current rates) move to Bavaria did not exactly go to plan. Gravenberch made just three Bundesliga starts, and only twice played more than 45 minutes in a league match.

He has remained on the fringes in the early weeks of this new campaign too, making his first appearance from the bench late on against Augsburg last weekend after being an unused substitute in Bayern’s first two games.

• Transfer news — live updates
• Deadline day timings and squad lists explained
• Gift The Athletic to a friend

Gravenberch in pre-season action against Liverpool (Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images)

Despite team-mates praising his training performances and club officials believing Gravenberch should be given more time to develop, manager Thomas Tuchel has indicated that he would sanction a move. And that opened the door to Liverpool.

Liverpool have a long-standing interest in Gravenberch. They have tracked him for a number of years and he is still viewed as one of the most promising young midfielders in world football.

After missing out in this window on midfielders Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, who both moved to Chelsea, Liverpool had to reset and reassess their options.

Aged 30 and captain of Japan’s national team, Endo was an experienced option to replace some of the leadership lost with the recent exits of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to Saudi Arabia, and provides a safety blanket for a younger player such as Gravenberch to come in and not have all of the pressure on them to be the new No 6 immediately.

Due to Gravenberch’s lack of minutes at Bayern since his move, it is difficult to draw conclusions from his time with them about what kind of player Liverpool would be getting. But the data from 2021-22, his final season at Ajax which convinced the Germans to sign him, offers a clearer picture.

He has the versatility to play as a No 6 at the base of midfield or as a No 8. For Ajax, Gravenberch largely played on the left side of a double pivot, but he is also comfortable operating on the left of a midfield three in more advanced areas.

In Liverpool’s 3-box-3 system, the No 6 becomes the left-sided double pivot when right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold moves into midfield while they are in possession.

Out of possession, they go to a 4-3-3, so there may be an element of moulding required if the plan is for Gravenberch to operate as the lone No 6 at the base of midfield in Liverpool’s system.

So what type of player is he? Using smarterscout data — which rates aspects of a player’s game from zero to 99, grading either how often they perform a given action compared with others at their position (such as the ball recoveries and interceptions) or how effective they are at it (such as how well they progress the ball upfield) — we can take a closer look.

One of Gravenberch’s stand-out attributes is his ability to carry the ball and advance his team up the pitch (carry and dribble volume: 92 out of 99). 

In 2021-22 as part of a title-bound Ajax side, he attempted 3.9 take-ons per 90 minutes in the Dutch top flight, which placed him in the top five per cent among all midfielders in that competition.

His large strides, matched with his excellent close control, allow him to drive past opponents. He is happy to receive possession and his physicality, helped by his 6ft 3in (190cm) height allows him to accelerate away from players. Notably, he was still very good at retaining possession (ball retention: 73 out of 99).

Gravenberch can draw players towards him and commit them with driving runs.

In this example, with Bayern away to Freiburg last April, he holds off one opponent…

…then spins away from another:

This opens the pitch, and he spreads the play to build Bayern’s next attack:

Such play could be a beneficial attribute for Liverpool when facing a compact defensive block. Not only does it mean he progresses his team up the pitch, but it can help in and around the opposition penalty area.

In the example below — during Sunday’s home win against Augsburg, where he came on as an 81st-minute substitute — Gravenberch is first to a loose ball and expertly wriggles between two challenges…

…before firing a pass to Harry Kane’s feet. The England striker turns and gets a shot off:

Against Cambuur for Ajax in September 2021, Gravenberch, receiving the ball with his back to goal, turns his marker in the box despite the tight proximity of the byline…

…and delivers a cutback for a team-mate, whose shot is saved:

In their pre-season meeting with Bayern in Singapore at the start of this month, Liverpool got a taste of his ability to use his body to manipulate angles to drive past players.

Up against Harvey Elliott here, Gravenberch receives a pass and turns backwards:

As Elliott presses, he uses a body feint to outwit the Liverpool midfielder then drives into the space ahead of him…

… before releasing a team-mate.

Gravenberch has the intelligence and awareness to move into space to receive possession and a solid passing range, and combines all that with being comfortable receiving the ball under pressure.

He is less progressive with his passing (18 out of 99), preferring to play simple balls over short distances to keep things ticking (link-up play volume: 76 out of 99).

That is similar to how Fabinho profiled with his use of the ball, although he dribbled much less than Gravenberch. The 11-cap Netherlands international does look forward. With Ajax, 16 per cent of his passes were progressive — defined as advancing the ball 10-plus metres (11 yards) — which was among the highest for midfielders in the division.

While Liverpool do not need their No 6 to be the creative spark — rather, facilitating those in front and around them to do that — Gravenberch possesses attacking qualities that make him a different player to Fabinho.

He can break forward into the penalty area (receptions in the box: 82 out of 99), although that is more likely to occur when being played in a more advanced position, and also contributed to making chances (xG from ball progression: 51 out of 99).

One thing Gravenberch isn’t is a defensive specialist.

When operating as a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1 for Ajax, Edson Alvarez, who recently moved to the Premier League himself with West Ham United, spent a lot of time screening the defence, while Gravenberch was given more freedom to express himself.

That does not mean he can’t become one and, given his young age (he only turned 21 in May), he could be moulded into the sort of player who suits Liverpool’s needs. His smarterscout profile indicates that, while he is not the most active defender, he can be effective.

His defensive impact rating (77 out of 99), shows he is very capable of stopping the opposition from progressing the ball upfield and forcing turnovers when he’s the assigned defender. Last season, Fabinho’s rating was very similar (79 out of 99) in that category. The Brazilian, however, ranked higher at disrupting opposition moves (87 out of 99) which includes tackling, fouling, blocking and clearing per minute out of possession, compared to Gravenberch’s slightly above-average 53/99.

His progressive instincts mean that when Gravenberch does win the ball back, he tries to move his team forward quickly.

In this example from March last season against Stuttgart, he reads an opposition pass to intercept…

…then retains possession by playing a pass inside to his team-mate to get Bayern going.

In the 5-0 home win over Czech side Viktoria Plzen in last season’s Champions League group stage, he wins possession back after tracking a runner, and then spots space to explode into:

He breaks into the opposition half, then plays a progressive pass to his team-mate’s feet:

Gravenberch is athletic and deceptively quick, which can make him an effective presser too — something that’s crucial to Liverpool’s high-intensity style. However, it may take some adaptation time for improved consistency.

“He has a lot of capabilities, especially in an attacking sense, but he understands hard work,” said Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, who was the player’s head coach at Ajax for 103 appearances over four seasons before they both left the Amsterdam club last summer.

After Gravenberch’s frustrating season and a bit in Germany, Liverpool would be getting a player eager to play first-team football straight away. Depending on how quickly he settled, he’d be competing with Endo for the No 6 role or, as he got up to speed with Klopp’s tactics, he could be deployed in more advanced roles.

Liverpool’s midfield options look strong already and, if they add Gravenberch, Klopp will have an embarrassment of riches centrally, with a number of his possibilities offering him versatility to use them in different systems and positions depending on the opposition.

Another crucial element of this potential deal is that Gravenberch would not count towards the non-homegrown quota in the Reds’ Premier League squad.

As he is only 21, and was born after January 1, 2002, he counts as an under-21 player. However, this would not apply to Europa League squad registration rules as he has not been at the club for two years, which is required to be eligible.

That helps if Liverpool plan to do any further business before the deadline: they still have one non-homegrown spot available, so their targets are not limited to those who began their careers in England or Wales.

When Liverpool’s summer 2023 window is done and dusted, they may not have addressed all of their issues within the squad. However, despite not getting all of their primary targets, if they can get Gravenberch over the line few can argue that they will not have improved their midfield options with youth, experience and availability.

(Top photo: S. Mellar/FC Bayern via Getty Images)