Liverpool have suffered an injury concern to midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, with journalist Fabrizio Romano confirming that he has left international duty with the Netherlands.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed an outstanding season for the Reds, excelling in a No.6 role alongside Alexis Mac Allister, standing out as one of his side’s best players.
After a relatively forgettable first year in a Liverpool shirt, Gravenberch has gone up a gear under Arne Slot, looking like a player who is ready to reach his world-class level.
The Dutchman has played a huge amount of football this season, however, starting all 29 Premier League games, leading to a risk of burnout as the campaign has gone on.
Now, it looks like too much playing time may have caught up with Gravenberch, with Romano taking to X to say that he has returned to Merseyside because of an injury worry on Netherlands duty:
“Ryan Gravenberch has left the Oranje’s training camp due to an injury sustained over the weekend. He’s gonna back with Liverpool staff set to assess the player’s injury.”
Gravenberch’s injury no great surprise for Liverpool
This is an obvious worry for Liverpool, as they look to get over the finish line in the Premier League title race, with Gravenberch such an influential presence since August.
Former Reds ace Steve Nicol spoke of his appreciation for him earlier this season after the 3-0 win away to rivals Manchester United, saying:
“Liverpool absolutely closed down that backline in that middle of the park for United very, very quickly today, particularly Gravenberch, who I don’t know where this guy has come from because last season I wondered why he was in the squad, but today and last week in particular he was fantastic.”
As mentioned, Gravenberch has played so much football this season that an injury doesn’t come as a huge surprise, with only Virgil van Dijk (2610) and Mohamed Salah (2575) playing more minutes than him in the competition than his tally of 2478
Hopefully, his withdrawal from international duty is more precautionary than anything, meaning he will be ready to return for Liverpool’s visit of Everton in the league on April 2nd.