Ryan Gravenberch has turned his career around since joining Liverpool from Bayern Munich over two years ago, having flourished at Anfield since leaving the German giants
14:15, 21 Sep 2025
Ryan Gravenberch earned the moniker of Liverpool's Merseyside derby day hero as he assisted Hugo Ekitike after scoring himself against Everton at Anfield. The Reds prevailed 2-1, and the love-in for the Dutchman reached new heights.
The midfielder opened Liverpool's scoring on 10 minutes with a well-placed volley on the end of a Mohamed Salah cross. Later he played a controlled pass into Ekitike, who took it in stride and found the space to slot beyond Everton's Jordan Pickford.
Gravenberch proceeded to play the entirety of the derby, making more tackles than any other Reds player to demonstrate just how complete an individual performance it was.
The country's national media were left to rave about what they saw from the 23-year-old, who is continuing to play a key part in Arne Slot's team having started his prominent midfield role at the beginning of the 2024/25 Premier League title-winning campaign.
It marks a major rise from the player who arrived from Bayern Munich, where he had been used sparingly, on transfer deadline day in summer 2023.
And as far as reports have suggested, Gravenberch has forced a wave of 'regret' to wash over his former club for their decision to sell him.
"Of course, there is internal regret over Ryan Gravenberch’s exit from FC Bayern. The club knew what he was capable of, but he needed playing time (which he’s been given at Liverpool) that he was never going to get at Bayern Munich," Christian Falk explained to CF Bayern Insider back in May.
"Thomas Tuchel saw Gravenberch playing further up the pitch, perhaps as a No.10 or an offensive No.8. But this season has proven that the Dutchman is more than capable of playing a more defensively-minded midfield role.
"If Tuchel had seen this, Bayern wouldn’t have spent €51m [£43.2m] on João Palhina. That still hurts a lot.
"Credit to Marco Neppe and Hasan Salihamidzic, who brought him in, but you still need a coach who trusts and counts on the player. Ultimately, if a player can perform like this at Liverpool, then it’s clear – a mistake was made."
Falk, in his own words, describes the choice to sell the midfielder for €40m [£34.2m] as 'haunting', especially when taking Palhinha's own fee into consideration to create a grand total of €91m (£77.4m).
"He's unbelievable. He's very important to the way we play. For me personally, you see the amount of times I try to look for him [for a pass]. It benefits him, me and the team," Virgil van Dijk said of his fellow Dutchman after the derby.
"He's in incredible shape. He's in the form of his life. He has to keep going. He's still young. The expectation level will always be right up there and that's what he has to try to reach every three or four days. It's a nice challenge."
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