Ryan Gravenberch explains Arne Slot phone call that turned him into Liverpool’s breakout star

Ryan Gravenberch interview: The Liverpool midfielder discusses how street football with his brother prepared him for the professional game and who he idolised when he was young

Ryan Gravenberch was readied for the rough and tumble of the Premier League by his big brother who toughened him up playing on the streets.

Now Liverpool’s reinvented No 6 is showing his best under new boss and fellow Dutchman Arne Slot. It was just after the Euros in the summer when Slot’s name popped up on Gravenberch’s phone as he was enjoying his holiday.

Slot wanted to give him an early heads up that he would be returning to Merseyside with a different role than he had in Jurgen Klopp’s team.

“My first reaction was really good because as a player it doesn’t really matter where you play as long as you can play,” said the 22-year-old midfielder. “When I played at Ajax I also played this role, not a lot, so I knew a little bit of what I had to do.”

Gravenberch had arrived at Liverpool in the summer of 2023 after struggling to get the minutes he wanted at Bayern Munich. But he started just 12 games last season in the Premier League for the Reds and was used sparingly from the bench. He’s already nearly at that tally this term under Slot.

“I think with this manager it is a bit more about good positioning, being able to kill the opponents with passes and play out from the back,” said Gravenberch.

The switch from the No 8 role to the deep-lying playmaker has been seamless so far. It will arguably face its toughest test tomorrow when in-form Chelsea arrive at Anfield. But the stats so far are good.

He’s impressed not only in his defensive duties but also in ball carrying and breaking the lines with key passes. Three of his runs from deep have led to goals. No other midfielder can better that in the league.

His passing under pressure has helped Slot’s team break presses but also he can make runs to stretch defences at the other end. The Holland international has made 69 recoveries per 90, according to stats generated by his agents the Raiola group, far ahead of today’s opponent Moises Caicedo on 54.

Now he looks at home in the Premier League. And all those matches against big brother and FC Den Bosch striker, Danzell, have paid off, too after years of watching him play at Ajax first and also on the streets.

“When I was younger I just watched him play and when we were a bit older I would go with him to play on the streets and he’s a big boy so it was difficult for me,” he said. “He toughened me up and I became stronger and he did everything for me.”

Gravenberch is still only 22 but has so much experience already. When he made his Ajax debut at 16 years and 130 days, he took Clarence Seedorf’s record as the club’s youngest player.

He cites his fellow Dutchman and midfield icon as one of his “idols”. There’s the usual love for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for a player of his age.

But another hero of his is Zinedine Zidane, who he would mimic on the streets playing as a kid in Amsterdam.

“Obviously when you’re a kid on the streets you want to be like him and what he achieved, you want to achieve as well,” added Gravenberch.

Now he’s shining with Liverpool, he’s got a chance to win the major honours like his idols Zidane and Seedorf once did.

Ryan Gravenberch was speaking ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League fixture with Chelsea, a match that will see the hosts feature Standard Chartered’s ‘Futuremakers’ logo on the front of their shirts. For more information and the chance to bid on his matchworn shirt, visit here

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