Tuchel pulls plug on £25m Liverpool transfer as ‘phenomenal’ Bayern star looks to ‘make statement’ | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel will reportedly prevent Liverpool from signing Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch during this summer’s transfer window.

Liverpool are in the market for midfielders ahead of next season with Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner all out of contract in the summer.

Jude Bellingham is known to be Liverpool’s main target but Gravenberch is another player they are being linked with.

The Dutchman signed for Bayern Munich from Ajax last summer but he was only a bit-part player under former head coach Julian Nagelsmann.

The 20-year-old has played 24 times across all competitions but he has only started once in the Bundesliga.

His lack of game time has led to reports suggesting that he could sign for Liverpool this summer. Ex-Reds player Jose Enrique even claimed last month that his former club already have a deal in place to bring in Gravenberch.

Gravenberch could start to play more regularly in the coming months as Nagelsmann has now been replaced by ex-Chelsea boss Tuchel.

Journalist Ben Jacobs is reporting that Tuchel “will give everybody a fair chance” and a move to Liverpool for £25m-rated Gravenberch “just can’t happen right now”.

“Ryan Gravenberch didn’t enjoy playing under Julian Nagelsmann,” Jacobs told TEAMtalk. “I think that there was almost an identity problem, in my opinion, because the desire from Nagelsmann was to get out of Gravenberch discipline and to be rigid and defensively minded, even if being utilised in perhaps a more advanced position.”

He added: “Now that Nagelsmann has gone, Thomas Tuchel will give everybody a fair chance.

“And we have to remember that Gravenberch is only 20. He’s a phenomenal talent, has got physicality, and intelligence and dynamism. But he just needs kind of shaping a little bit to understand that game management. That will come with age and experience.

“Therefore, Thomas Tuchel will absolutely give him a fair chance. And because there’s so little time left in the season, that is likely to extend into the pre-season as well.

“That means that links with Liverpool coming back in are very much premature at this stage. It just can’t happen right now.

“Unless there’s a scenario where the player is really saying he’s unhappy and driving that exit, I just don’t think he will leave.

“And when you get a new manager coming in, it will be the opposite with Gravenberch. He’ll be looking to make a statement and prove to Thomas Tuchel that he’s worthy of playing, starting and contributing.”