The Dutchman caught the eye of many clubs with his performances for Ajax and was even compared to legendary midfielder Clarence Seedoff before his move to Bayern Munich. He failed to become a regular in Germany but Klopp believed Liverpool had signed a “special talent” when he arrived at Anfield.
At just 21, the midfielder showed his scoring ability against Union Saint-Gilloise and Toulouse in the Europa League. Klopp insisted there was still work to do after the 5-1 defeat by the French last October, but his performances since then have often divided Anfield fans.His ability and pace make him an outstanding player in Liverpool’s midfield, but there are suggestions that he is not enough to make an impact at either end of the pitch. He also started very slowly in the FA Cup against Norwich, but Gravenburch’s performance during the game showed that he is getting used to the demands of life as a Liverpool player.The Dutch international played as a young midfielder alongside James McConnell (19) and Curtis Jones (22) and was heavily involved in most of Liverpool’s attacking plays.
He was able to play 90 minutes at Anfield for the first time in his career. He made the most of it, converting Connor Bradley’s close-range shot into a header just before extra time. Ironically, it was his first goal since scoring against Toulouse three months ago. Gravenberch managed to score a hat-trick thanks to his excellent goalkeeping and plays a good role in Klopp 2.0’s midfield.
Former Bayern man Jones, who scored for Szoboszlai and Norwich, is three players ahead of the midfielder in goals and assists for Liverpool last season. It was a decent return for a debut season and there were signs of improvement even against Norwich. He was successful in all but one of his 11 games against Championship sides, winning seven of them.
Jurgen Klopp says he is happy with his summer job after waiting out the deadline to complete Liverpool’s midfield rebuild. Dominik Soboszlai and Alexis McAllister were easily signed, Wataru Endo now looks like the perfect replacement for the departing Fabinho, and the late Ryan Gravenbirch was signed for $43m (£34m/€40m) .
