Arne Slot answers whether he thinks Ryan Gravenberch can become ‘the next Toni Kroos’ for Liverpool

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Liverpool deserve to be happy with themselves on Thursday morning after seeing off the challenge of Real Madrid the night before.

The Reds were superb against the reigning European champions, running out eventual 2-0 winners.

Goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo won the day, with a number of the Liverpool squad putting in tremendous performances.

Conor Bradley earned rave reviews after largely shackling Kylian Mbappe, while Mohamed Salah was praised by Rio Ferdinand despite missing a second-half penalty.

Another who passed yet a difficult test for Liverpool was Ryan Gravenberch.

Although it was perhaps not his best display of the season, Gravenberch stuck to his task against Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga and Luka Modric. After the game, Arne Slot was even asked if the 22-year-old showed shades of Madrid legend Toni Kroos.

Arne Slot responds to Ryan Gravenberch comparison

Gravenberch has been exceptional for Liverpool this season. The No.38 has come on leaps and bounds in his second year at Anfield.

It has also been in the Champions League where Gravenberch has really stamped his authority. The Dutchman has not missed a minute during the five games so far.

And when asked about the midfielder during his post-match press conference, Slot gave an insight into why he always keeps Gravenberch on.

“He played a very good game, which was not that easy because he conceded a yellow card already quite early in the game,” said the Liverpool head coach. “But he is so comfortable on the ball, and we like to have possession a lot and if you have possession a lot it’s always useful to have players that are so comfortable and dominant on the ball.

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“And he brings, together with our last line, the ball towards the players that can hurt every opposition. That’s what makes him special, together with his running capacity – he just keeps on running. And he, like all the others, also profits from the team performance, because I’ve said it many times, the team performance makes the individual performance and not the opposite way around.”

Asked by one seated journalist whether Gravenberch could ‘become the next Toni Kroos,’ Slot quickly shut things down.

“No, because he’s Dutch and he’s not German!” the boss answered, to a chorus of laughter from the press room.

Gravenberch delivers but at what cost?

There should not be any more doubt over whether Gravenberch is the right man to play as Liverpool’s deepest lying midfielder.

If he can do it against players of the ilk of Bellingham, Modric and – especially – Camavinga, who was brilliant, then he can cope against anyone.

Nevertheless, a new worry emerged for Liverpool ahead of their game on Wednesday.

There were reports that Real Madrid are monitoring Gravenberch as they aim to finally replace Kroos and Modric.

If that really is the case, then they will surely have been impressed by what the Netherlands international delivered at Anfield. Hopefully that does not lead to anything further.