Arne Slot believes the arrival of Martin Zubimendi would not have impacted Ryan Gravenberch’s impressive start to the season for Liverpool.
Liverpool made Zubimendi their top midfield target in the summer transfer window but the Spain international rejected a move to Anfield and ended up staying at Real Sociedad.
Despite failing to land Zubimendi, Liverpool’s midfield have instantly clicked under Slot with Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai performing well as a trio.
Slot feels Zubimendi would have been a strong addition to his midfield but insists Liverpool have now ‘moved on’.
‘If you’ve noticed it is not that much of one holding midfielder, it is a bit more two,’ said Slot.
‘And one of those two can be a bit more attacking and I think the player you mentioned [Zubimendi] could have fitted in one of those two roles and Ryan can fit in both roles like Curtis [Jones] can, [Alexis] Mac Allister can and Wataru [Endo] can.
‘There is no point talking about Zubimendi anymore because he stayed with Real Sociedad and we’ve moved on and we are really happy with Ryan.
‘You see a Ryan who is full of confidence and that comes normally with good performances and trusting your team-mates and knowing that you can do what you have to at that level.’
Slot also insists Gravenberch always had the potential to improve following his subdued first season at Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp.
‘I wouldn’t say I am surprised because he’s Dutch, I’m Dutch, so I saw him playing at Ajax when he came up into the first team,’ said Slot.
‘Everybody saw back then what a special talent he was and probably for that reason he went to two amazing clubs, Bayern Munich and Liverpool.
‘You can only go to these clubs if they see you have a lot of quality. Then it is up to us to make sure we get the best out of him and that is not only down to what we, as a training staff, do but also he is the most important for that.’
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