Wesley Sneijder has raved about a Liverpool midfielder that Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso wants to sign, with a fellow pundit hammering Jurgen Klopp for not getting the best out of him before Arne Slot transformed him.
Real Madrid signed Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool at the end of last season. Alexander-Arnold already had a deal in place with Los Blancos to move to the Santiago Bernabeu as a free agent in the summer of 2025, but the Spanish and European giants paid Liverpool €10million (£8.7m, $11.7m) so that the England international right-back could play for Xabi Alonso’s side at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
Madrid’s determination to sign Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate on a free agent next summer has been well-documented, with Los Blancos also keen on Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister.
Ryan Gravenberch has also emerged on Real Madrid’s wishlist, with a report in Spain last week claiming that Alonso has personally told president Florentino Perez to get a deal done for the Netherlands international midfielder.
Gravenberch joined Liverpool from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023 for €40million (£35m, $47.2m( and failed to make a huge impact under then-Reds manager Jurgen Klopp in the 2023/24 campaign.
However, the Netherlands international has been a star for the Reds under Arne Slot and played a pivotal role in the Merseyside club winning the Premier League last season.
Gravenberch starred for Liverpool in the Merseyside derby win against Everton at Anfield last weekend, leaving his Dutch compatriot and former Madrid attacking midfielder Sneijder to give him a ringing endorsement.
Voetbal Primeur quotes Sneijder as saying about Gravenberch: “He’s really made progress. On the ball, off the ball, he’s become stronger in every way.
“He’s always looking ahead and has also become physically stronger. Really good.”
Fellow pundit and former Ajax and Netherlands international striker Jan Mulder noted: “He’s now getting the trust under Arne Slot.
“Jurgen Klopp didn’t; he played him sporadically. Slot really saw that clearly.”
READ NEXT 🌐 Xabi Alonso indicates to Man Utd if Real Madrid will sell left-footed star with ‘huge potential’
What else is being said about Liverpool star Ryan Gravenberch amid Real Madrid interest?
Sneijder and Mulder are not the only pundits who have been impressed with the performances of Gravenberch this season.
Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen believes that Gravenberch is now worth £100million (€114.5m, $135m), while Peter Crouch, another ex-Anfield marksman, has said that the midfielder has been the Merseyside club’s best player this season.
Own said on Premier League Productions after the match against Everton: “He is seriously talented, he could do anything.
“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.”
Crouch told TNT Sports: “He proved it again. I think he has been Liverpool’s best player this season. There’s no dressing it up. Absolute class act.
“The way he moves from midfield, he breaks the line by going past people, and his touches in and around the box is absolute class act, but not only that, he works hard and he does his defensive duties as well.”
Former Watford striker Troy Deeney thinks that Gravenberch is the best holding midfielder in the Premier League.
Deeney told BBC Sport: “He scored against Everton, Liverpool won and they are five from five. He could be the best holding midfielder in the league right now.
“I remember speaking to Graeme Souness about 18 months ago and he wasn’t sure because nobody normally leaves Bayern Munich if they’re that good.
“Well he’d better be thankful they let Gravenberch go because he is that good for Liverpool.”
Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk told BBC Sport about his Dutch compatriot: “Not just this season, he’s been playing like that from the moment last season started.
“He’s unbelievable. He’s very important to the way we play.
“You see the amount of times I try to look for him. It benefits him, me and the team. He’s in incredible shape. He’s in the form of his life.
“He has to keep going. He’s still young.
“The expectation level will always be right up there, and that’s what he has to try to reach every three or four days. It’s a nice challenge.
“During his first season here, he hardly played. It’s a mix of everything: getting confidence, progressing and improving as a player, playing games at the highest level and knowing your role in the team.
“I’m very pleased for him because he puts in a lot of hard work to do what he is doing.”
Latest Real Madrid news: Konate response to Liverpool, Argentine star targeted
Real Madrid have learned the response that Ibrahima Konate has given to Liverpool after the defending Premier League champions offered him a five-year contract that would see him earn £185,000 per week.
As Los Blancos target Konate, a former Real Madrid winger is ready to leave his current club and move to Arsenal, where Martin Odegaard has flourished after being discarded by Los Blancos.
Sources have told TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Dean Jones, that Real Madrid have also taken a shine to an Argentina international midfielder, who is starring in the Premier League.
POLL: Which Real Madrid player do you think has the highest transfer value?