Liverpool were smart to sign Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich last summer, but his agent should be questioning if the move was smart for the midfielder.
That’s according to Wim Kieft, who believes it was ambitious from Gravenberch to believe he would succeed at Liverpool after failing at Bayern Munich.
Gravenberch moved to Liverpool for €40m in the summer as part of their major midfield rebuild following the departures of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson.
Unlike fellow signings Wataru Endo and Alexis Mac Allister he’s been unable to really establish himself in Jurgen Klopp’s plans, though, playing more of a bit-part role than he might have expected.
Indeed, he’s only made one more appearance this season than he managed in the entirety of the campaign for Bayern last season, suggesting he’s not quite proved himself on Merseyside just yet.
Kieft certainly believes that is the case but has questioned whether the move made more sense for Liverpool than it did for Gravenberch.
“It’s a bit of an eternal story that everything that comes from Ajax has to be good,” he said.
“In recent years, there have been quite a few questions about that idea when you see that quite a few players have lost track after Ajax. With Donny van de Beek with failed adventures at Manchester United and Eintracht Frankfurt as the main exponent of this.
“Players like that (Gravenberch) are worth the investment, even if they don’t succeed. Because after a difficult season at Bayern Munich, Liverpool simply paid €40m for Gravenberch. If it works, then great, if it doesn’t work, they will sell it for an acceptable amount.
“A manager of Gravenberch must recognize that this is how it works and ask himself whether it is in the player’s interest to take on this challenge in Munich and then Liverpool. If you can’t break through at Bayern Munich, why would you succeed if you move to Liverpool?”
