Liverpool's late transfer could be priceless after Bayern Munich mistake and Ronald Koeman anger
Not even Jurgen Klopp would paint himself as the patron saint of salvaging careers. But there's little doubt the Liverpool manager possesses a happy knack of improving many of the players who come under his purview.
From Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane through to Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum and Andy Robertson, Klopp has taken good footballers and transformed them into key components of a world-class team - and, in some cases, helped them develop into world-class talents on their own individual merits.
And the early signs are the Reds boss is already having a positive impact on Ryan Gravenberch.
"I really like him as a boy and as a player, and it's really nice to see how much he starts believing in himself again," said Klopp after the midfielder had posted a man-of-the-match display when scoring against Toulouse on Thursday evening. "That's obviously very important for each player but for a young player especially. So that's cool. It's good news because everybody sees the good signs and the potential he has but there's so much more to come."
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With his forceful forward bursts, willingness to take on opposing players, propensity for playing on the turn and freedom to shoot from distance, Gravenberch has quickly established himself as a crowd favourite and, given his energy and clear potential for improvement, is in many ways an archetypal Klopp signing. The Dutchman has the raw materials, but has plenty of room to be further moulded to what Liverpool need.
For now, though, it's obvious Gravenberch is simply enjoying being back
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