Ryan Gravenberch appears to be loving life under Jurgen Klopp after leaving Bayern Munich to join Liverpool earlier this year. The Dutchman has featured regularly off the bench in the Premier League and has started in all three of Liverpool’s games in Europe, chipping in with two goals and an assist in the process.
The Dutchman struggled for regular minutes at Bayern after failing to endear himself to Thomas Tuchel and still appears to be frustrated with the way he was treated at the Allianz Arena. He recently aimed a thinly-veiled dig at his former employers in an interview with Viaplay, in which he was asked if Jurgen Klopp keeps his promises better than those at Bayern.
“Actually, yes,” replied Gravenberch. “When he called, he gave me his plan and then things went quite quickly. That was really the most important thing I wanted. In the end I got my chances and also the playing time I had been promised.”
Gravenberch’s move to Liverpool was a deal to suit all parties given his frustrations at Bayern and his multiple complaints about the situation through the media. There were reports that he was promised an increase in playing time last season, although things did not appear to work out that way prior to his departure.
His exit was the logical conclusion to a frustrating one-year spell in Germany and has allowed him to progress at Liverpool, who paid just over £34m to secure his services in the summer. He now seems to be delighted with the way he has been utilised by Klopp, with the Reds manager having reportedly been a huge admirer of Gravenberch before snapping him up.
Things will only get better for him at Liverpool if Klopp manages to keep his latest promise after insisting last week that Gravenberch is not even halfway to becoming the player he can be in future.
“He is a good player, huh? I’m so happy for him, he’s starting to really enjoy his football again,” said Klopp after Gravenberch popped up with a goal in Liverpool’s 5-1 thrashing of Toulouse in the Europa League. “He’s not even halfway to where he can be but it’s been a really good start for him. The best part is how much he can still improve on.”
Klopp is not the only coach to have heaped plenty of praise on Gravenberch, with his former Ajax mentor saying in 2021 that he always saw him as a better version of Paul Pogba. Brian Tevreden, who worked with Gravenberch during his youth days, underlined his physical presence and impressive technical ability as two key factors that would help him to shine at the highest level.
“Physically, I see Frank Rijkaard because he’s tall and very strong,” Tevreden told Goal. “Technically, I would say he’s a better version of Pogba in his best days at Juventus, in terms of his technique and his presence on the pitch. He’s very dominant like Pogba was and that’s what I see in Ryan.”
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