Liverpool are looking to complete the signing of Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich on transfer deadline day after agreeing a fee for the Netherlands international.
The 21-year-old has flown to England and will undergo a medical on Friday, after the Reds agreed a deal worth up to £40m for the midfielder.
Gravenberch will become Liverpool’s fourth midfield recruit and take their summer spending past the £150m mark after already signing Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Wataru Endo.
The Dutchman is a player Liverpool have monitored for a long time, even before he joined Bayern Munich last summer. And they’ve now made their move for Gravenberch after it became clear the Bavarians would be willing to sell a player they signed from Ajax just 12 months ago.
But why have Bayern decided to sell and what can the Reds expect from their new signing? The ECHO spoke to Christian Falk, head of football at German newspaper Bild, to get the lowdown from Germany on Gravenberch and Liverpool’s imminent deadline day transfer…
Hi Christian, thanks for joining us. Firstly, why have Bayern Munich decided to sell Ryan Gravenberch?
Christian Falk: Ryan Gravenberch was a transfer of Hasan Salihamidzic, the former sporting director, last summer. When he was the chief, it was always clear that this player was not for sale. The management was told this as well in December. But Salihamidzic was fired and now there is a new opportunity for Gravenberch.
The structure of the squad at Bayern Munich, they have a lot of players who can play as number eight but Thomas Tuchel wants a holding six. He doesn’t have a holding six in his squad.
They have a transfer group of seven people. Tuchel is part of it and Tuchel has always said he needs a number six. He wanted Declan Rice, they tried but after that they spent a lot of money on Harry Kane so there was no money left for a good number six. Tuchel was told he wouldn’t get a number six.
And at this moment, Thomas Tuchel has an idea that Konrad Laimer, who is more of a midfield player, can play right-back. This makes more space again in midfield. If you can tell your bosses your most important thing is a holding number six, you’d let Laimer play at right-back rather than necessarily signing one to replace Benjamin Pavard, so at least bring a number six in, you see how important it is for Tuchel to get in a six.
He needs two number sixes for his ideal and that’s why he won’t let Gravenberch go before they have another number six.
So the idea grew that if he sells Gravenberch and gets money for him in, he can get the player with the profile he wants. This is what has happened now.
Gravenberch is a player Liverpool have liked for a long, long time. They asked after him earlier this year but were told he wasn’t for sale, so it sounds like they partly have Harry Kane to thank for the transfer now being possible! But what changed at Bayern for them to now sell the player?
CF: Yes, that’s true (laughs). Thomas Tuchel went in May to London to meet two players. On the first day they met Kane in his house. The next day they met Declan Rice in his house. You can see that at this time they had the idea to get both a number six and a striker.
But as time was running out, Thomas Tuchel saw that he was in danger of not getting a number six so he had to decide. Gravenberch was always willing for a move, he also pushed for a move. They saw the big talent and didn’t want to sell him. But now the wish for a number six is bigger at Bayern Munich than believing in the quality of Gravenberch.
Gravenberch is a very talented player, but they have a lot of players like him in the position. They have Leon Goretzka, they have Josh Kimmich. They got Konrad Laimer as a free agent this summer from RB Leipzig. So they had to decide which player they could give away, and which player would also be willing to move.
Goretzka was also discussed but clearly he wanted to stay. Gravenberch was always willing to go. He already wanted to go last winter when he didn’t have so many chances. There were talks already a few months ago with Liverpool. They talked in Amsterdam so there was always a connection between Liverpool and Gravenberch.
They would have sold him also to Man United but Man United are now going for Amrabat. It also has been an idea of Bayern Munich to move for McTominay. There were discussions about a swap deal with Gravenberch, but at the end they decided to go for Palhinha. He’s the number one target for Bayern Munich and McTominay is only number two, and also United is more interested in Amrabat.
It’s just business for Bayern Munich. They have to make money to get the Palhinha deal done.
Are you surprised at Bayern’s change of stance regarding Gravenberch? They did only sign him a year ago as a long-term project after all.
CF: Bayern Munich’s idea is always that they want to develop players because they don’t have the same money as the Premier League clubs. But it’s still Bayern Munich, they always want to be in the final of the Champions League. So you don’t have any time to develop players, and it was like this with Gravenberch.
I’m of the opinion that if a player doesn’t go in the top XI in the first season, it’s very hard for him to develop because then you are behind the others. In the case of Gravenberch, it was an experiment. He would have needed to be better than Goretzka in the first season, and in the end this wasn’t the case.
How important has Jorg Schmadtke been to the transfer? Obviously he has a lot of experience and contacts in Germany…
CF: For sure that helps, all the numbers in his book. You saw it already with the deal with Endo. I think this was a typical Schmadtke deal. Not many in the Premier League know how good Endo is indeed.
He knows all about Gravenberch. It’s easier if you speak the same language, you can speak a little in German in negotiations with Bayern. It’s not so hard a discussion for him like it was for the last deals. Nobody has to show muscles, you just can talk. This helps for transfers in the Bundesliga and also in this case.
Why hasn’t it worked out for Gravenberch in Germany and at Bayern?
CF: He came to Bayern Munich, he wasn’t very expensive, he wasn’t a big star who came in, unlike the others. And the midfield at Bayern Munich has the most complete parts. You have Kimmich who is one of the most important players, also for the German national team. You have Leon Goretzka, you have Jamal Musiala, you have Thomas Muller. In no other part of the team do you have better quality, so it’s been hard for a talented Dutchman to play.
If you have him on the bench, it’s not so noisy in the media and it’s not so noisy in the team and dressing room if you don’t play the talent. It was bad luck for him, but that’s football life.
He’s been very vocal about not being happy with his playing situation at Bayern. But he’s not necessarily guaranteed to start at Liverpool either. Is that a concern?
CF: In the last interviews when he was talking about the midfield, Thomas Tuchel didn’t even mention the name of Ryan Gravenberch when he was talking about his system. If you hear this as a player, I think you’re willing to move!
And then you have a ‘man catcher’ like Jurgen Klopp who is telling you about his system, that you’re perfect for his system and that you fit in his system. The attacking style of football at Liverpool I think is better for Gravenberch than the match-plan of Bayern Munich and Tuchel.
You always hear the sweet things of the coach rather than the bad things. I think he believes he has a big chance under Jurgen Klopp. If it will be like this in the end, you never know.
So Jurgen Klopp has been a big selling point for Gravenberch in convincing him to move to Liverpool?
CF: Jurgen Klopp has always insisted at Liverpool that he wants this player. I think this is what he would have told him! Jurgen Klopp has liked him for a very long time. He always showed him that he wants him and that he’s a player he definitely wants.
It was just always a question of money because Liverpool always had, for big transfer, others player in their view. Klopp got the signal from Liverpool that if he wanted to get Gravenberch, then he was allowed to spend £20m.
Bayern Munich wants more but now you see that Bayern Munich wants Palhinha from Fulham so they need money. So they’re going down with the price and €30m-€40m would see them say yes.
What can Liverpool fans expect from Ryan Gravenberch? What sort of player is he and how would he fit in their midfield?
CF: I think he’s a player who can score goals. This he couldn’t show at Bayern Munich but it’s his big weapon. He does the job that a midfield player has to do, but he can also play striker. He’s big and I think if you bring him in a position where he can play this role, it can be really good for Jurgen Klopp and his team.
You can’t calculate Liverpool so easily. They have three great guys in front. If you have Gravenberch behind, it’s a great weapon also. He can play as an eight and a 10. You have many opportunities with Gravenberch in your team.
There have been suggestions in England that Liverpool could look to use Gravenberch in a more defensive role. Is that something he could successfully adapt to?
CF: In my view he’s more a player between number eight and number 10. He’s a number eight with offensive power. But indeed he can also play in a double six pivot. But I think the best role for him is as a number eight.
How confident are you that Ryan Gravenberch will become a Liverpool player on deadline day?
CF: Gravenberch wasn’t in training on Thursday but he was at the training ground. He had breakfast with the other players, but didn’t go on the pitch. It wasn’t a strike, so he had permission to not train. I heard there will be movement today (Thursday).
Bayern Munich are searching as well but the point that he wasn’t at training suggests that all parties are ready to do it. I think we have to give the deal a little more time and let Bayern Munich do a job on the numbers for their new holding six. I think then it will happen.
