Ryan Gravenberch reveals what Arne Slot 'personally' told him about this season
Ryan Gravenberch is back with the Liverpool squad and Arne Slot has already told him about his role for the upcoming season.
It's taken a while but the Liverpool squad is gradually filling out again. Arne Slot has been without almost all of the Reds' key players since taking over at the start of the summer, with both the Euros and Copa America pulling the stars away.
Alexis Mac Allister returned on Saturday, though, and Ryan Gravenberch is another who's linked back up with Liverpool. The Dutchman is an interesting one, too, after a hit-and-miss debut season at Anfield.
Liverpool took a chance on Gravenberch after he struggled for success at Bayern Munich. They paid £35m on the gamble and it's one that was probably worth taking.
Probably. Gravenberch's high points last season were such that his potential is obvious, even if we only saw it in small bursts. He's still young enough, too, that you can cut him some slack on his lack of consistency. The hope now is that Slot can find a new way of using the 22-year-old that gets the most out of him consistently.
And we've already got a little teaser of what that might entail.
Ryan Gravenberch on Arne Slot
Gravenberch has spent some time with Slot now and really likes what he's hearing. He gave a brief but telling interview on the new boss - one that revealed what the head coach wants from him.
"Really good impressions," Gravenberch said of meeting Slot, per LFCTV. "He really wants to play football and me personally as well.
"So, happy that he's here and happy that we can train and play."
Slot telling Gravenberch that he specifically wants him to be 'playing' football more is telling. Jurgen Klopp wasn't as possession-focused as the new boss, instead wanting his players to move the ball forward quickly if possible.
That doesn't entirely suit Gravenberch, who grew up in Ajax's youth system and is far more tuned into possession football. Slot wants to see that from the new midfielder and it could, fingers crossed, be exactly what the player needs to find his feet consistently at Anfield.