Liverpool are back in pursuit of Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch after his status showed little sign of changing under Thomas Tuchel, according to reports.
Gravenberch only joined Bayern last summer from Ajax, but struggled to make an impression under Julian Nagelsmann. Even after a change of head coach, Bayern have struggled to see the best of the Dutch midfielder.
According to Foot Mercato, Gravenberch is still studying the idea of leaving Bayern before the transfer window closes. He was linked with Liverpool earlier in the summer, before things seemed to cool down.
Now, though, Liverpool have resumed their attempts to sign Gravenberch from Bayern after missing out on the signings of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
Although yet to make an offer, Liverpool are carefully considering the 21-year-old as someone they could attempt to sign over the next couple of weeks.
The problem is that Man Utd have been having similar thoughts and after Gravenberch played under Erik ten Hag at Ajax, he would lean towards choosing that exit route as things stand.
Therefore, Liverpool will need to keep their options open. Reports elsewhere have suggested another alternative on their agenda could be Bryan Cristante from Roma.
The 28-year-old has recently signed a contract extension with Roma as he prepares to enter a sixth season with the Serie A side. But after buying Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker from them in recent years, Liverpool could consider another raid on the Giallorossi.
Once again, there is no indication yet that Liverpool have made any kind of offer for the Italy international. However, he might be another name to keep an eye on as the shortlist expands.
Liverpool need more defensive midfielder than Gravenberch or Cristante
That said, neither Gravenberch nor Cristante are natural defensive midfielders, which is the profile of target Liverpool should be looking at to replace Fabinho.
They have already signed Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai this summer, but need a new holding midfielder, which is why they were looking at Lavia and Caicedo.
In both cases, though, Chelsea have been more tempting. Liverpool now have a small window of opportunity to bring someone else in, otherwise Mac Allister might be restricted by having to drop into a deeper role.
Nevertheless, if they can add a holding midfielder – with Cheick Doucoure from Crystal Palace now a major target – it might still be useful to bring in an additional box-to-box player. Liverpool have lost several players in the department this summer, including Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, so need to address their squad depth.
It might be easier to take Gravenberch from Bayern than it would be Cristante from Roma. Jose Mourinho has given a big role to his third-in-command captain so far and has just lost Nemanja Matic from his midfield too.
Leandro Paredes and Renato Sanches – who was linked with Liverpool earlier this year – have both added competition to Cristante’s department, though, after completing a double transfer from Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
They will help fill the void left by ex-Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum after his ineffective loan spell from the same parent club.
