Liverpool attempted to sign a deep-lying midfielder during the summer, but Ryan Gravenberch has since emerged to make a strong case for the position.
When Manchester United faced Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday, five players on the pitch had previously played under Erik ten Hag during his time at Ajax.
Unfortunately for Ten Hag, the standout performance at Old Trafford came from the only player representing the visitors, who cruised to a 3-0 victory over their fierce rivals.
Ryan Gravenberch made history as Ajax’s youngest-ever player when Ten Hag handed him his senior debut against PSV in September 2018. At just 16 years and 130 days, he surpassed the record held by the iconic Clarence Seedorf.
Now at Liverpool, few anticipated Gravenberch to start the Reds’ opening three matches of the season. Even fewer expected him to not only take up a deep-lying midfield role but also excel in it.
Since Fabinho’s departure last summer, Liverpool have struggled to find an ideal replacement for the holding midfield role. After losing out on both Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia to Chelsea over a year ago, they turned to Wataru Endo, while Alexis Mac Allister initially stepped in during the early stages of the 2023-24 season before excelling in a more advanced position.
Endo delivered more positive performances than negative ones last season, but at 31 years old and with a new head coach, Arne Slot, Liverpool sought a fresh option this summer in Real Sociedad’s Martín Zubimendi. However, the Spain international was ultimately unwilling to leave his hometown club.
To the frustration of many Liverpool supporters, the club opted to rely on their current squad. Given that Slot had already hinted through his pre-season selections that he didn’t view Endo as a regular starter, how would they address the issue internally? Enter Gravenberch.
From Bayern Benchwarmer to Liverpool Linchpin: Gravenberch’s Resurgence Under Slot
The Netherlands international left Ajax for Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022, but his time in the Bundesliga didn’t go as planned. Although he made 33 appearances across all competitions, only six of those were starts, and he failed to reach 1,000 minutes of playing time in the 2022-23 season.
This prompted a move to Anfield last summer as part of Jürgen Klopp’s midfield overhaul. Gravenberch initially impressed, especially in the Europa League group stage, where he primarily played as one of the two advanced eights. However, he struggled to secure a regular spot in Klopp’s starting XI.
In his first season at Liverpool, Gravenberch made 38 appearances across all competitions, with only 21 starts, contributing four goals and two assists. He only started three consecutive matches once and hadn’t done so since October leading up to the 2024-25 season.
Under his new head coach and fellow Dutchman, Arne Slot, Gravenberch has already started all three of the opening games and has been entrusted with a deep-lying midfield role, where the 22-year-old is now thriving.
After three games and three wins for Liverpool in the 2024-25 season, only Virgil van Dijk (220) has attempted more passes than Gravenberch, who has successfully completed 88.8% of his attempts (159 out of 179). Additionally, only Luis Díaz (45) has made more carries (moving at least five metres with the ball) than Gravenberch’s 40, and no one has followed a carry with a pass as often as his 36. This demonstrates that he is not only progressing the ball with intent but also doing so as part of cohesive passing sequences.
Gravenberch has been instrumental in Liverpool’s build-up play. In the season opener against Ipswich, his pass to Mohamed Salah set up a sequence where the Egyptian laid the ball off to Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose brilliant return pass released Salah to assist Diogo Jota for the first goal.
At Old Trafford, he nearly contributed to an early lead as well. After receiving a pass from Van Dijk, he let the ball glide past him to deceive Kobbie Mainoo, dribbled away from the United midfielder, and passed to Luis Díaz. Although Alexander-Arnold’s resulting goal was disallowed for offside against Salah, it was a glimpse of Gravenberch’s potential.
Later, he intercepted a pass from Casemiro and dribbled forward, scanning for his teammates making runs towards the box. With composure, he delivered a perfectly timed pass to Salah on the right, who crossed for Díaz to head in the opening goal at the far post.
Liverpool’s trip to Man Utd marked their first major test under Arne Slot, and it was also a significant challenge for Gravenberch following two strong performances against Ipswich and Brentford. Like the rest of his teammates, he rose to the occasion.
On Sunday, only Salah (21) attempted more passes in the final third than Gravenberch, who completed 17. He also won seven out of 10 duels, matching Van Dijk for the most on the team. Additionally, Gravenberch led the way for Liverpool with four interceptions and three fouls won, both the highest figures for Slot’s side.
His manager expressed satisfaction with Gravenberch’s performance, noting after the game when asked about the qualities he brings to the No. 6 role:“His quality on the ball could be my first answer but I think coming from the Netherlands we all know how good he is with the ball. He can be a really important player for our build-up game, but what impressed me most when I started working with him [was] how much he can run and then still how good he is when he arrives in the duel.
“Today, you saw with him, Dominik [Szoboszlai] and Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] how much they were able to keep on running. Sometimes you’re late, but then they just kept on running and arriving in the duel. So, that is the one thing that impressed me most about him: how good he also is without the ball.”
Gravenberch’s Early Impact: Balancing Defensive Prowess and Effective Ball Retention in Liverpool’s Midfield
Gravenberch has been impressive off the ball in the early weeks of the season. He shares the most tackles for Liverpool with Mac Allister (8) and leads the team in interceptions (7), with only four Premier League players making more. Among Liverpool’s outfield players, only Dominik Szoboszlai (19) and Mac Allister (18) have more recoveries, while his 17 duels won is tied for the most alongside Mac Allister and Díaz.
Gravenberch also appears to be taking better care of the ball. While ‘possession lost’ can be misleading—often penalizing high-risk players like Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes, and Alexander-Arnold—it’s a metric where Gravenberch has typically ranked high. This could have raised concerns for Slot, especially with Gravenberch in a deeper role where ball retention is critical. However, as expected from a young midfielder, Gravenberch has improved year by year, lowering his per-90 average of lost possessions to 9.4, down from 13.8 last season.
This doesn’t mean Gravenberch is playing it too safe with his passing, as 25.1% of his passes are forward, not far behind his midfield partner Mac Allister, who sends 28.4% of his passes forward.
It’s notable that Gravenberch is playing alongside someone like Mac Allister. While the Dutchman has spent much of his career in more advanced positions, he did operate in a deeper role for much of Ajax’s 2021-22 season. However, during that time, he played alongside Edson Álvarez, now at West Ham, a more defensive-minded, “destroyer” type midfielder compared to Mac Allister.
Despite this, the duo is complementing each other effectively, and they combined particularly well in the victory over United on Sunday. Szoboszlai’s energetic running ahead of them provided excellent balance in midfield.
Gravenberch has firmly established himself in the number six role and delivered impressively in the crucial game at Old Trafford.
While it’s still early in the season, Zubimendi’s decision to remain in the Basque Country might turn out to be the best thing that’s happened for the Dutchman.
How old is Ryan Gravenberch?
22
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