da stake casino： The Netherlands international has endured a terrible time at the Allianz Arena, but he could easily realise his potential at Anfield

da apostebet： Ryan Gravenberch was just seven years of age when Brian Tevreden saw him in action in Amsterdam for the first time. "He was unbelievable," the former Ajax youth team coach told GOAL. "You could see that this boy would become a good football player."

Tevreden was so sure of that that he even promoted Gravenberch to the club's Under-15s when the midfielder was still only 12. His only doubt at that stage was over whether Gravenberch reminded him more of Frank Rijkaard or Paul Pogba.

"Physically, I see Frank in him from back in the day because he's tall and very strong," Tevreden explained. "But, technically, I would say he's a better version of Pogba in his best days at Juventus, in terms of his technique and his presence on the pitch.

"He's very dominant like Pogba was, and that’s what I see in Ryan." Plenty of others saw it too – including Erik ten Hag…

'I wish you a successful career'

On June 7, 2018, Gravenberch signed his first professional contract on the very same day he was presented with the Abdelhak Nouri Trophy – an annual award given to the top talent in the Ajax academy that has been previously won by the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Christian Eriksen and Matthijs de Ligt.

Just four months later, Ten Hag handed Gravenberch a first-team debut, making the 16-year-old the youngest player ever to appear for Ajax in the Eredivisie. He even received a message of congratulations from the previous record-holder, Clarence Seedorf. "I wish you a successful career," the Dutch legend wrote on Instagram, "just like I had."

The early signs were certainly encouraging. Before the end of the 2020-21 season, Gravenberch had nailed down a regular starting spot in Ten Hag’s team, and already been capped by the Netherlands at senior level. He was still only 18 when he took to the field for a World Cup qualifier against Turkey.

By that stage, Gravenberch was being linked with all of Europe’s elite clubs. It was not a question of if he would leave Ajax – but when. Tevreden knew that too and expected his former pupil to prove “a big success”. Unfortunately, Gravenberch’s move to Bayern Munich has proven anything but.

AdvertisementGettyBayern's bargain buy fails to prove his worth

He moved to Bavaria in June 2022 for €18 million (£15m/$19m), and it looked like a bargain buy – but Gravenberch failed to convince two different head coaches of his worth at the Allianz Arena.

Across a debut season that saw Julian Nagelsmann replaced by Thomas Tuchel at the tail end of March, Gravenberch managed just 938 minutes of first-team action and made just six starts. On two separate occasions, he publicly complained to the press about a lack of game time – much to Bayern’s displeasure.

Such frustration was arguably inevitable, though. Before joining Bayern, Gravenberch had known nothing other than progress and success, almost effortlessly hurdling every obstacle that had been placed on his seemingly pre-destined path to superstardom.

“Ryan was very young making his debut for Ajax U19s and later Ajax U21s,” Maarten Stekelenburg told GOAL. “He had to compete against physically strong players, so when I saw he could cope with those physical demands of the game, I had no doubt he could step up and show his technical and tactical talent.

“For me, talent is when you can adapt to the next level. Ryan managed to play himself into the team after every step up in age group. When you cannot keep up with the speed of the game, you are not in the team. But Ryan showed in training and games he could contribute to the team.”

Getty'Potential to become a world star'

Ten Hag, meanwhile, was just as enamoured with Gravenberch’s ability to take everything in his stride and remain unaffected by any minor setbacks. “He knows what he can do and he loves football,” the former Ajax boss said in 2021. “But he remains himself. And with his beautiful smile, he can laugh everything away. If he works hard and makes the right choices, Ryan has the potential to become a world star.”

Nagelsmann wholeheartedly agreed. During the early part of the 2022-23 season, he reserved as much praise for Gravenberch’s temperament as his talent. But he acknowledged that the Dutchman was finding it difficult to deal with the transition from a starring role at Ajax to cameo appearances in Munich.

“It's not quite so easy for a young player to come in at 20 and only come on for 20 minutes. It's just a whole different approach," Nagelsmann told . “He is, of course, sad that he doesn't play much, but not frustrated or angry at all. He's a great guy, who will continue his development.

"I've told him that he is going to be one of the best midfielders in the world one day, and I'm committed to that. He just has to adjust a few things, and he will do that."

Gravenberch didn’t, though. On the contrary, his game regressed and his relationship with Nagelsmann deteriorated.

Getty ImagesDefensive deficiencies

The German acknowledged that, in possession, Gravenberch was “better than many other players in Europe”. The problem, as far as Nagelsmann was concerned, was his work off the ball – or lack thereof.

In last October’s Champions League clash with Viktoria Plzen, Bayern conceded twice after Gravenberch’s introduction. According to , Nagelsmann and his coaching staff felt the substitute was to blame for both goals.

Then, during a friendly with Red Bull Salzburg in January, Gravenberch was hauled off at half-time. During the break, an irate Nagelsmann reportedly called Gravenberch out for not doing his job from a defensive perspective in front of the entire dressing room, accusing the Netherlands international of jogging back to help out his team-mates when he should have been sprinting.

Again, Nagelsmann publicly stated that Gravenberch has everything required to become a world-class midfielder, but pointed out that at a club like Bayern, the only want to get into a star-studded starting line-up is to “be better than your competitors”. And the coach did not feel that Gravenberch deserved to play ahead of Leon Goretzka or Joshua Kimmich. Nagelsmann clearly didn’t believe he could be trusted to play in a central defensive midfield role.