After a failed £71 million transfer, Ryan Gravenberch can help Jurgen Klopp finally turn around Liverpool.
Ryan Gravenberch will strive to outperform Jurgen Klopp’s most recent deadline-day acquisition, Arthur Melo, who made his sole appearance for Liverpool on this day in 2022.
Last week, Liverpool acquired Ryan Gravenberch on the final day of the transfer window, capping a $150 million midfield makeover.
The Netherlands international followed Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Wataru Endo through the door after joining from Bayern Munich in a deal for up to £40 million as Jurgen Klopp was obliged to create an entirely new midfield.
Even though a much-needed overhaul was high on the Reds’ priority list going into the summer, the managers didn’t necessarily expect to bring in four new midfielders. Before the start of preseason, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai were acquired, but Liverpool didn’t realize they needed to strengthen further until Jordan Henderson and Fabinho’s interest from Saudi Arabia caught them off guard.
Prior to signing Endo from VfB Stuttgart, the Reds clearly tried to sign Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia but were unsuccessful. Even though Chelsea ultimately spent £173 million on the aforementioned pair, his £16.2 million transfer fee and Liverpool’s overall expenditure pale in comparison, choosing to sign a 30-year-old without any “elite” experience was still a significant departure from the team’s preferred strategies. The decision is still being debated.
Despite being on deadline day, the Reds were at least achieving a long-term goal in Gravenberch. Liverpool had been keeping an eye on the 21-year-old for a while and was considering buying him last summer before he traded for Bayern Munich rather than Ajax. Before the Bavarians finally agreed to the Dutchman’s wish to leave in 2023, they had numerous conversations with his representatives during that time.
Even while the agreements were identical to the Reds’ last deadline day, which was precisely a year to the day earlier, the club’s strategies were very different.
Liverpool spent the most of the season trying to acquire Gravenberch from Bayern after being rejected by Aurelien Tchouameni, advised by Borussia Dortmund that Jude Bellingham was not for sale,
Liverpool spent the most of the summer of 2022 adamantly stating that ambitions for a midfield makeover would have to wait a year and therefore missed out on Gravenberch to Bayern.
However, by the end of August, injuries to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Thiago Alcantara, Naby Keita, Curtis Jones, and Henderson swiftly forced such a stance to shift. After supposedly missing out on Denis Zakaria to Chelsea, a desperate search for reinforcements brought them to Juventus and Arthur Melo.
After all, the 26-year-old had a strong résumé. He was acquired by Juventus in a £71.3 million trade from Barcelona, where he won both the Coppa Italia and La Liga. A year after he had aided them, he had cost the Catalans £34.8 million when they purchased him from Gremio in 2018.
