Gravenberch's late arrival in deep role worth the wait

Arne Slot has combined solving a major Liverpool problem with getting the best out of Ryan Gravenberch.

Photo: IMAGO | Anfield Index

There is an irony in the fact that, had Ryan Gravenberch been billed as a holding midfielder upon arriving at Liverpool, his signing would have been better received.

Days prior to his unveiling, the Reds had added Wataru Endo as their direct Fabinho replacement, but the Japanese’s age and career up to that point appeared to mark him out as a stop-gap.

As such, many supporters expressed hope that it would be Gravenberch who eventually emerged as Jurgen Klopp’s first choice as an anchor.

However, that did not happen, with the Dutchman instead spending his debut campaign competing with the likes of Harvey Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai for starts in an advanced midfield position.

What’s more, Gravenberch’s performances as a No.8 - occasionally eye-catching but lacking in physicality - did not exactly scream for him to be thrown into the deeper role many had initially envisaged for him.

Consequently, this summer’s revelation that he would be deployed there following the failure to capture Martin Zubimendi did not go down well at all.

Yet football is always capable of throwing up surprises, and the 22-year-old has provided one in building a case to be considered one of Liverpool’s best players so far this season.

It is not just that Gravenberch is playing well, but that he is doing all of the things you might have hoped a deep-lying midfield signing would.

The Netherlands international has posted the fifth highest number of interceptions of all Premier League players this term (seven) while sitting eighth for dribblers tackled (six).