Michael Owen believes a red-hot Liverpool star’s transfer value has trebled to more than £100m, and the story of how Liverpool struck gold has roots at all three of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.
Liverpool maintained their 100 percent start to the Premier League season on Saturday when defeating Everton at Anfield. It’s five wins from five for the defending champions so far and while he’s always been highly appreciated on Merseyside, Ryan Gravenberch is now receiving unanimous acclaim from further afield.
The Dutchman was a colossus in Liverpool’s two-man midfield alongside Alexis Mac Allister last term. Gravenberch has taken his game to even greater heights this time around and against Everton, the holding midfielder both scored and assisted.
Gravenberch’s first season at Anfield (Jurgen Klopp’s last) was an underwhelming one. The £34.2m signing barely featured under the former boss but his transformation since Arne Slot took charge has been nothing short of magical.
And according to pundit and former Liverpool, Man Utd and England striker, Michael Owen, Gravenberch is now worth in excess of £100m.
“He is seriously talented, he could do anything,” Owen told Premier League Productions after the Everton clash.
“I love him sitting in the No.6 role but it just shows you can push him forward and he can still have a big influence, a little bit like Declan Rice, he’s a No.6 but can play forward as well.
“I look around the world at the moment and think, ‘who is performing better than him?’, I don’t see many at all.
“I think he is one of the finds of the last season or so. Certain circumstances could’ve meant he wouldn’t be playing, if Liverpool had got [Martin] Zubimendi when they wanted him he wouldn’t be playing.
“Even when they played Ipswich in the first game of last season, we were all scratching our heads thinking, ‘who is going to play as the No.6 today?’, and word emanated from the dressing room that it was going to be Gravenberch. He’s never looked back since, it’s incredible.
“Bayern Munich, they must be scratching their heads thinking, ‘wow, why have we let him go?’, because he can be absolutely anything.
“If he was playing for another team now, everybody would be after him as a new No.6, sitting midfield player, thinking £100 million plus.”
Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal all involved in Gravenberch rise
Rewind the clock all the way back to the January window of 2023 and Man Utd at the behest of Erik ten Hag made a play for Gravenberch.
The midfielder was struggling to break into the team at Bayern Munich at that time. Man Utd had just suffered an injury blow after Christian Eriksen was sidelined and a late-window move for a new midfielder was sanctioned.
Both Sky Sports and The Independent confirmed Man Utd and Ten Hag wanted Gravenberch as their priority signing. Ten Hag knew Gravenberch well from their time together at Ajax.
However, Bayern were reluctant to sanction a loan exit for a player who’d only arrived six months prior.
Accordingly, Man Utd were forced to look at alternatives and would go on to sign Marcel Sabitzer – also from Bayern Munich – on a six-month loan.
Once the 2022/23 campaign ended, Liverpool embarked on a complete midfield rebuild. Stalwarts like James Milner, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho were moved on, while Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were released.
Liverpool got deals for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai over the line in the early phase of the window. The fact both stars could be signed via release clauses sped up the process.
However, Liverpool then fixed their gaze on more defensive-minded options in Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia. Hefty bids for both players were tabled, with Liverpool offering a club-record £111m for Caicedo.
Ultimately, both players chose to sign for Chelsea, resulting in Liverpool making late-window moves for Wataru Endo and Gravenberch.
As mentioned, Gravenberch struggled to impress Klopp in the 2023/24 season and at one point, was an unused substitute in four consecutive matches in April of 2024.
Klopp’s departure a few months later prompted the arrival of Slot and the incoming coach immediately sought to sign a ball-playing defensive midfielder.
Martin Zubimendi was identified as the perfect player to pull the strings in a Slot midfield. Liverpool pushed for the Spaniard and indicated to Real Sociedad they were prepared to pay the player’s release clause.
However, Zubimendi chose to remain in situ and less than six months later, news broke of Arsenal securing a broad agreement to sign Zubimendi in the summer of 2025. It doesn’t take a genius to work out Zubimendi rejected Liverpool in the knowledge he was going to Arsenal one year later.
Had Zubimendi joined Liverpool, Gravenberch may again have been denied opportunities to shine. But with Endo not viewed as a regular starter by Slot, the responsibility for anchoring Liverpool’s midfield fell to Gravenberch almost by default.
Liverpool now possess one of the world’s leading stars in that position, though but for Man Utd’s miss, Chelsea’s double swoop and Arsenal turning Zubimendi’s head, the situation could’ve been so very different.
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