Ryan Gravenberch has admitted his intention to remain with Bayern Munich, calling for increased playing minutes under Thomas Tuchel.
The former Ajax ace did pay tribute to his current boss at the Allianz Arena in comments that will surely come as a blow to Liverpool’s recruitment team.
“I don’t want to experience a year like that again,” the Dutchman told De Telegraaf (via Flashscore). “I just want to play more, preferably at Bayern Munich.”
Gravenberch went on to add of his time spent under Julian Nagelsmann’s replacement, Thomas Tuchel, that he “played more. That gave me a good feeling.”
The Merseysiders are understood to rate the Bavarians’ midfielder highly, though Jurgen Klopp and Jorg Schmadtke are taking a more considered approach following the acquisition of Alexis Mac Allister.
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Don’t let Ryan Gravenberch’s stats deceive you…
Looking at what Gravenberch offers on the pitch – defensive work (73rd percentile for tackles), progressive play (81st percentile for successful take-ons and 77th percentile for progressive passes) and attacking prowess (93rd percentile for shot-creating actions) – according to FB Ref stats, it’s clear for all to see how the player has taken our fancy.
It should be pointed out that whilst the numbers look more than solid, the 21-year-old is hardly blowing any of his midfield peers out of the water.
That being said, we’d be foolish not to take into account a limited pool of minutes, with the Bundesliga-dwelling star only amassing a meagre total of 937 minutes (across 33 showings in 2022/23).
At 21 years of age too, Klopp has to feel confident he could mould the Netherlands U21 international into a compelling starter in a Liverpool midfield if his search for minutes led him beyond the borders of Munich.