It’s fair to say that there was initially considerable ambiguity around the precise position Liverpool had hired Ryan Gravenberch for.
The Dutchman is the’multifunctional’ midfielder that the club has long indicated they wanted to recruit this summer, according to sources close to the team who confirmed his arrival.
They said that Gravenberch would be required to fill the No. 8 and No. 6 positions in Jurgen Klopp’s system.
The manager then went on to discuss his newest hire and appeared to refute that notion with a rather impressive overview of his qualifications.
The German responded, “He is super-talented, he can drive the ball, he can be really a box-to-box threat, and he is going there,” when asked what Gravenberch can offer.
But, like with Wijnaldum, it becomes evident that the manager also sees Gravenberch as someone who can, at most, fill in for the holding role rather than someone who might make it his permanent home.
Some fans will be disappointed by this revelation because they have been praising the new player’s ability to anchor the midfield ever before it was officially announced that he had signed.
Truthfully, the belief that he might work there is mostly motivated by a (perhaps reasonable) inability to see Wataru Endo in that role given his lack of credentials.
Given Liverpool’s record of successful signings and Klopp’s fondness for the Japanese, you might think they’ve discovered yet another gem.
But the lack of pre-peak, elite-level No. 6s on the market this summer, as Liverpool sources privately noted very early in the window, played a significant role in his decision to join Anfield.
While some fans may disagree with that professional opinion, it is clear that the case has already been made by the names that are sought for on social media.
But it’s still unclear whether that will be a successful strategy against truly elite competition or if Klopp will want to rely on Endo in those situations.
In either case, Liverpool’s conviction that Gravenberch is a midfielder of game-changing ability is unwavering.
The 21-year-old’s brilliance appears unlikely to be demonstrated in the place they feel it is most needed, which is the only concern for fans.
