Liverpool star Ryan Gravenberch has forced elite coach into 'complicated' admission

Liverpool star Ryan Gravenberch has forced his former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann into an admission after the midfielder was starved of gametime during his solitary season in the Bundesliga.

Gravenberch moved to Munich in the summer of 2023 after excelling for Ajax but was sold to Liverpool a year later.

The 22-year-old started just six games for Bayern, with Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka often selected ahead of him.

Gravenberch was in and out of the Liverpool team under Jurgen Klopp during his first campaign at Anfield but has become a key player for the side since Arne Slot succeeded the German manager.

He has started every Premier League and Champions League game for the Reds this campaign and has impressed in a No. 6 role, with Liverpool currently topping the table in England.

The talented star was in action for the Netherlands in the Nations League on Friday night and played the full 90 minutes as his team drew 1-1 with Hungary. He is also likely to start again on Monday night as his country take on Nagelsmann’s Germany team.

And ahead of Monday’s encounter, Nagelsmann told Sky Germany: “He’s doing it perfectly. But I expected this development because Ryan is a smart boy and a brilliant player.”

Discussing the star’s Bayern career, the Germany manager added: “It was complicated for him at the time because we had Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka in midfield. I was the new coach at Bayern and it wasn’t easy to put players from the German national team on the bench.

“For Ryan it was a new situation that he had to get used to because he had almost always played from the start at Ajax before.”

Gravenberch will be aiming to repay the faith his compatriot and Liverpool mentor Slot has shown in him this season when he returns to England following the international break.

And Slot has already spoken highly of the ace, explaining earlier this month: “It is not that big of a surprise if you bring the quality like Ryan Gravenberch in, if you start to work with him, you do the right programme, and he has the team-mates he has, that he can progress.

“That’s what we’re seeing at the moment. Now it’s up to him to keep the standards as they are at this moment.

“He hasn’t played a lot of games last season. I think he already played more 90-minute games than he did in the past two seasons, so interesting to see how he copes with it but until now he does really well.”