Ryan Gravenberch claims that Zinedine Zidane has an influence on the way he plays and explains how Jurgen Klopp helped him join with Liverpool.
Ryan Gravenberch claims that on the day of the transfer deadline, Jurgen Klopp’s steadfast pursuit of him was what ultimately persuaded him to switch from Bayern Munich to Liverpool.
And since breaking into the Ajax team as a teenager, the Netherlands international has admitted that he has sought to style his game after Zinedine Zidane of France and Real Madrid.
When Gravenberch joined Liverpool on September 1 from Bayern for over £40 million, he became the club’s fourth and final acquisition of the summer. It put an end to the Reds’ summer-long search as they finished their midfield makeover, which also saw the addition of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Wataru Endo.
Gravenberch was a long-time goal for Liverpool, and the club met with the player’s representation earlier this year before Bayern finally agreed to let the fugitive midfielder transfer to Merseyside, despite the last-minute nature of his deadline day deal.
And Gravenberch has explained how Klopp’s eagerness to integrate him into the Liverpool team convinced him it was time to leave Bayern after a year with little first-team opportunities.
Gravenberch said, “I spoke with the coach before I came in and he gave me a positive impression. “Yes, I want you, he said to me. He also shared his ideas with me and went over everything. I had such a positive impression of him that I made a decision right away.
“Of course, I also had a brief conversation with Virgil (van Dijk), who assured me that I would play and that Liverpool was a premier team. He therefore stated things of that nature to me, which also encouraged me to come here.
“I don’t think there was a specific person I was looking forward to playing with here at Liverpool; rather, I was looking forward to playing with the entire squad since they are a really excellent club and I played against them with Bayern in the preseason in Singapore.
“The club made some excellent additions over the summer, and I also believe it’s not just about one really big player,” said the player. I have faith in the entire squad because I believe they are all capable.
“When I went to Bayern Munich, I chose that number again because I felt I had something special because I had made my debut for Ajax with it. My decision to wear the No. 38 shirt was based on the fact that I made my debut at Ajax in the 38. 38 is undoubtedly my favourite number since I believe I will always wear it.
“It was an amazing feeling for me to score against Union SG in the final [European] home game. Even though that may have been the simplest goal of my career, as I said after the game, it didn’t matter. Since the fans have shown me such a lot of love and support since I’ve been here, it’s been wonderful and I want to repay them in some way.”
The midfielder, who made his entire Premier League debut in Saturday’s 2-0 victory against Everton, admitted that as a young man, he was a fan of both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but he went on to say that as a senior professional, he has attempted to emulate 1998 World Cup champion Zinedine Zidane on the pitch.
“When I was younger, I looked up to the bigger players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo,” continued Gravenberch. But when I got older, around the age of 17 or 18, I started watching Zinedine Zidane videos. Zidane would be the player I would point to as having had the biggest impact on my game.”