Jurgen Klopp revealed that Ryan Gravenberch is in contention to make his Liverpool debut this weekend and has described him as an “interesting package.”
The Dutchman joined the Reds from Bayern Munich on deadline day in a £38.5 million move that completed a summer overhaul in the midfield area.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Wolves, Klopp said “We will see” when asked about Gravenberch’s chances of involvement and added that his decision to withdraw from international duty will “benefit” his start to life at Anfield.
“We will see that, but of course, there’s a benefit [of staying at Kirkby instead of meeting up with the Netherlands U21s],” explained the boss.
“He had training sessions here, he could sort everything on a private basis. We have games every three days, let me say it like that, so knows where he will live, he has organised everything around him.
“I understand the Dutch were not happy, I can get that, but the boy is a footballer through and through. He wants to play football all the time and used the break to fix a lot of things we usually do in a proper rush.
“So we didn’t have to do that, which for us, was good.”
Gravenberch arrived after failed attempts to sign Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia saw the Reds turn their efforts towards bringing in a multi-functional midfielder.
Klopp was asked about the attributes that led to the pursuit of the 21-year-old, with the manager admitting work can be done to improve defensively while maintaining that he has “massive potential.”
“The package is really interesting. He is good in small spaces, so he can accelerate with the ball, he can retrieve the ball. He is a good passer, good shooter,” he continued.
“Everybody would have said that defensively he can make the next step 100 per cent, but I see that he wants that, he got that 100 per cent.
He is working extremely hard. It is obviously really nice for him having Virgil and Cody around.
“He is a good guy and a player with massive potential and I don’t know how it will end up.
“I don’t know how long it will take to reach the peak, but we will work on that. He is here for a long time and I am really happy that he is here and we can start that.”
