If Martin Zubimendi had not been swayed by a Real Sociedad charm offensive as Liverpool circled, the season so far could have turned out very differently for Ryan Gravenberch. The Spain international’s decision to stay with his boyhood club last month has come to represent something of a sliding doors moment for the Dutch midfielder’s Anfield career. Zubimendi had been identified as the marquee signing for Arne Slot and new sporting director Richard Hughes.
He was viewed as a scurrying, schemer of a midfielder who would add additional poise and control to an engine room that had been, as Slot claimed on Tuesday in the San Siro, characterised by doggish, animalistic-style pressing and harrying prior to the head coach’s summer arrival from Feyenoord. “[The midfield] is a combination of energy and quality on the ball,” Slot said. “I think the most successful team of Liverpool in recent years had three ‘animals’ or ‘dogs’ or however you want to call it, very hard-working players in the midfield.
Arne Slot has given himself a Liverpool problem that Darwin Nunez decision would not solve What Italian media said about Ryan Gravenberch sums up Liverpool transformation “These three work very hard in midfield as well and they don’t fight with the ball so it means they are quite comfortable on it. That’s what you like to see as we like to press high, be really aggressive in what we try to do, but we also like to play out from the back and create our chances like.