Jurgen Klopp was full of praise for Ryan Gravenberch after the Dutchman netted his first goal for the club in the 2-0 win over Union SG.
The midfielder has made a fast start to life at Anfield, becoming the first Liverpool player since Milan Baros in 2002 to register a goal involvement in each of his first three starts.
In reacting to his side’s Europa League win, Jurgen Klopp lauded Gravenberch’s “obvious” talent and insisted that he is making promising early progress at the club.
“It’s really obvious how much of a talent he is. He is enjoying the situation and getting there step by step,” the boss said of the Reds’ No. 38.
“It’s really good to see. He fits well with the age group of the majority of the squad. Very good, it is going in the right direction. Very helpful.”
Gravenberch was the last of four midfield signings over the summer and faces stiff competition for places as he strives towards his first Premier League start for the club.
The 21-year-old received a standing ovation as he was replaced by Dominik Szoboszlai during the second period and the manager revealed that his withdrawal was merely to do with mitigating risk.
“We thought he might be able to play 90,” he continued.
“We wanted to give him 90 but then we saw he dropped a little bit and didn’t want to build any risk, so that’s why we brought on Dom for a few minutes.”
The midfielder notched two assists in his first two Liverpool starts against LASK and Leicester and went one step further with a goal of his own on Thursday night.
He will be keen to make his way onto a league teamsheet sooner rather than later having become a regular feature of Klopp’s rotated 11 across the Europa League and League Cup.
Brighton are up next for the Reds this weekend and Gravenberch has certainly put himself in contention for a start on the South Coast.
