Reliable reporter Ian Doyle has said he’d be ‘surprised’ if Liverpool manage to sign Ryan Gravenberch this summer, although he hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of a move if a ‘big enough’ offer is tabled.
Dutch journalist Mike Verweij reported for De Telegraaf that the Bayern Munich midfielder’s entourage met with a delegation from Anfield in recent days, with the 20-year-old believed to be open to playing in the Premier League.
The Mirror then claimed the Reds would possibly be willing to give him a £200,000-per-week contract in order to make the deal happen. However, Fabrizio Romano has said that the Bundesliga champions very much want to keep the player and ‘have no intention to negotiate’ with prospective suitors.
Doyle hosted a Q&A for the Liverpool Echo this afternoon in which he was asked whether it’s likely that Bayern would be open to selling Gravenberch amid the Reds’ reported interest.
The journalist replied: “I’d be surprised, but if the fee is big enough they might consider it.”
Gauging by reports from The Mirror, Liverpool would likely need to pay in excess of £16.3m – the fee for which the Munich club signed the midfielder from Ajax last year – and are hoping that his current employers might sell if they can recoup what they paid for him.
In the transfer market, every single player has their price, so if the Reds are truly intent on signing the Dutchman, they’ll present an offer which they believe will tempt Bayern into selling.
Going by Romano’s aforementioned update, FSG will likely need to present a very strong proposal to the Bundesliga giants if they’re to persuade them into cashing in on Gravenberch, even if the early signs under Thomas Tuchel are that he’ll continue to struggle for game-time.
Ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash against Manchester City, the 20-year-old has featured for just 27 minutes across the German’s first five matches in the dugout (Transfermarkt), having been handed only one league start all season (WhoScored).
Perhaps an offer in the region of £20m-£25m might bring Bayern to the negotiating table, although Liverpool will also have their eye on several other deals and a finite budget with which to work.
It could therefore be a matter of weighing up how viable the transfer seems and how far FSG are willing to stretch in order to try and pull it off.