Liverpool legend left blown away by £34m man he was convinced Arne Slot would sell
You cannot imagine many Liverpool supporters would have picked Ryan Gravenberch out as the club's player of the season so far before a ball had been kicked in the 2024-25 campaign. Not that they were questioning the midfielder's potential.
After all, you do not play for the clubs the stature of Ajax, Bayern Munich and now Liverpool by the age of 22 without it. No, it was more a question of whether the Anfield faithful would see the talent he undoubtedly possessed truly unleashed after an inconsistent first season on Merseyside.
Gravenberch, a £34m signing from Munich in the summer of 2023, admitted this week that he found his debut campaign testing. "I think I had an okay season for my first season in the Premier League," said the Netherlands international.
READ MORE: Sadio Mane makes major Saudi claim and reveals ex Liverpool team-mate he's still in contact with
READ MORE: Liverpool given mixed fitness update on Alexis Mac Allister injury
"My goal was to get more minutes than I had at my previous club and I reached that goal. There were ups and downs, but in the end I look back at my first season at Liverpool with a good feeling. The Premier League is quicker than German football. It is more intense, both when you are in possession and when you are pressing.
"Counter-attacks are at speed and I think you get more time on the ball when you are in possession in the Bundesliga. You have to adapt here, but how quickly you adapt depends.
"Every player is different and, to be honest, I like a period to adapt. I wasn't used to the Premier League, of course, and I didn't play a lot of football before I came here, but I had the time to adapt and I really needed it."
Legendary manager Jurgen Klopp left the club at the end of the campaign to be replaced by Gravenberch's fellow Dutchman Arne Slot, who at one stage seemed set to make Martin Zubimendi his new No.6.
But after the Real Sociedad and Spain midfielder performed on a U-turn on his decision to join the Reds, Gravenberch has made the position his own, winning rave reviews for his performances.
And the latest subscriber to his fan club is Liverpool great Steve Nicol, who is now a pundit in America. The former Scotland international, who won 10 trophies during his 13-year Reds career, believed that Gravenberch could have been on his way out of the club.
But after watching him playing a key role in Liverpool's rise to the top of the Premier League and flying start to the Champions League under Slot, he admits he has "completely changed" his opinion.
Nicol, speaking on the ESPN FC YouTube channel, said: "Talk about coming from absolutely nowhere.... when I saw the team-sheet for the opening game of the season against Ipswich Town, I was like, 'why is Gravenberch playing?' Because what he shown us last year, he made me question why he was there.
"But my goodness, what he’s produced now... talk about putting somebody in the perfect position. He’s been sensational.
"The amount of times that he breaks up the play because of his starting position and because of his decision-making - when to step in and win the ball and when to sit back and wait for it to come to him... he has really surprised me.
“It’s shocked me, to be honest. I was looking at Gravenberch as someone Slot would look to move on but in a very short space of time he has completely changed my opinion and, I’m sure, plenty of other opinions as well.”