The Reds could have sealed a better option than Ryan Gravenberch this summer…
Liverpool have started off the 2023/24 Premier League campaign impressively, drawing away to Chelsea in the season-opener before successive victories against Bournemouth and Newcastle United.
The latter – a snatch-and-grab victory courtesy of Darwin Nunez’s incisiveness at St. James’ Park, despite going a goal and man down in the opening half-hour – typified the mentality and belief Jurgen Klopp hopes to instil in his team, a mentality that dissipated as the Reds foundered last term.
A fifth-placed finish was a result of a dreadful run of form for the Anfield side, with a midfield sapped of vitality and a defence devoid of confidence meaning the club ended their illustrious seven-year streak in the Champions League, reaching three finals and winning one.
After such a dismal term, the winds of change were always going to shriek through Merseyside, with Klopp completely revamping the midfield.
Who did Liverpool sign this summer?
The 2023 summer transfer window was always going to be busy for Liverpool, with long-serving midfielders James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all leaving in June upon the expiry of their contracts.
While such exits were expected, the exodus was exacerbated by Saudi Arabian interest in holding midfielder Fabinho and captain Jordan Henderson, with the pair leaving for a combined £52m.
Creative gems Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai has already been purchased from Brighton & Hove Albion and RB Leipzig respectively, but Klopp’s side needed a new No. 6, and they needed one badly.
Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia were both pursued in a high-profile transfer battle with Chelsea, but the affluent London side prevailed on both accounts, leaving the din of the alarm bells echoing around Anfield.
The astute option to sign 30-year-old defensive midfielder Wataru Endo for £16m from Stuttgart was exercised, filling the void, and Liverpool finished up their business by completing a £34m move for dynamic ace Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich, a long-standing midfield target.
Should Liverpool have signed Ryan Gravenberch?
Gravenberch’s late acquisition was an imperative move; the failure to effectively buttress the existing ranks with a versatile, multi-functional midfielder would have left Liverpool in short supply in the central department.
Indeed, the ace joined the Bundesliga champions in a €24m (£20m) deal from Ajax last summer, with Die Roten sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic describing him as “one of the biggest talents in Europe” at the time.
European football expert Andy Brassell has also claimed that “the potential there is huge”, despite a lacklustre season in Germany that resulted in just three league starts all season.
Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed that the player simply didn’t fit the system at the Allianz Arena, and there is now an excellent opportunity for the ace to rise to prominence on English shores, playing a pivotal role in Liverpool’s resurgence after a testing term.
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While he doesn’t fit the mould of specialist No. 6 – a natural defensive midfielder – Gravenberch does boast an all-encompassing midfield skill set that Klopp, who has dubbed the 6 foot 3 machine as an “exceptional talent”, will now hope to mould to his own creation.
To emphasise this, FBref ranks the 11-cap international among the top 4% of midfielders across Europe’s top five leagues for shot-creating actions, and within the top 20% for total shots taken, progressive passes, successful take-ons and tackles per 90.
However, his travails with Bayern evidence a lack of trust across multiple managers, with Julien Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel both loathe to offer him a regular role in the team, despite the club’s struggles last term.
There are numerous reasons to back up the managers’ decision to keep him on the fringe; Nagelsmann was allegedly disgruntled with Gravenberch’s lack of defensive application, while Tuchel, despite acknowledging his stunning “qualities”, swiftly concluded that the ace was not fit for a defensive role at the base of the midfield.
While Liverpool have secured an exciting prospect, once hailed as the Netherlands’ “greatest talent” by ex-Ajax ace Wim Kieft, Gravenberch was perhaps not the best fit Klopp’s squad needed ahead of a crucial campaign, with former top target Matheus Nunes potentially the custom-made star to revamp the central engine.
How would Nunes have played at Liverpool?
While Liverpool might have failed to sign a high-profile specialist six, there will be optimism that the acquisitions made across the past few months will be enough to reform a side that fell by the wayside last term, exposing frailties and issues across the board.
Klopp will be hoping that the newly-signed quartet can make a marked improvement both in offensive fluidity and – more importantly – the protection of the backline, something that was arguably non-existent last year as 49 league goals were conceded – 23 more than the year prior.
Because of this, Nunes, who has recently completed a £53m transfer from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Premier League champions Manchester City, would have been exactly what the Merseyside outfit needs to close the gap on the Citizens, who won the treble last season and are now vying for an unprecedented fourth successive league title.
Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Matheus Nunes
Despite the Old Gold’s struggles last season, Nunes impressed in his energetic role and was central to the squad’s fluidity, completing 82% of his passes, averaging two tackles per game and winning 61% of his attempted dribbles.
As per FBref, he also ranks among the top 15% of midfielders for progressive carries, the top 3% for successful take-ons and the top 12% for progressive passes received per 90, underscoring a box-crashing mentality that would have benefitted Liverpool’s high-intensity system immensely.
Described a “special” talent by his former coach Ruben Franco, it’s perhaps telling that the £82k-per-week maestro was of a vested interest to Liverpool last summer, having agreed a £44m deal with Sporting CP for the Portuguese gem before withdrawing their bid, allowing Wolves to waltz in and snap up their man.
Klopp rekindled his intrigue in January and was also believed to be plotting an approach this summer, but didn’t make any further advancements on a player Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola once hailed as “one of the best players in the world”, over one year before sealing his signature.
In the 2023/24 season opener against Manchester United, Nunes showcased his skills superlatively in his penultimate appearance for his Molineux outfit, recording a match rating of 7.4 – as per Sofascore – creating two key passes, making three tackles and five interceptions and winning an incredible 14 of his 24 contested duels at Old Trafford.
It is this tenacity and rounded style that would have been a brilliant asset for Klopp and co, and while Gravenberch could blossom into one of Europe’s foremost midfielders over the next few years, the club might rue the failure to sign Nunes in the future.
