LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool completed its midfield reshuffle with the signing of Dutch foreigner Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich on a 40 million euro ($43. 1 million) contract on Friday, the final day of the summer move window.
Gravenberch signs fellow midfielders Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Wataru Endo to join Liverpool this summer, while Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have left.
Gravenberch, 21, signed a five-year contract 12 months after arriving at Bayern from Ajax.
Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel was willing to let Gravenberch pass because he had no compatibility in the system.
“For me he is an area-to-area midfielder, an attacking player,” Tuchel said on Friday before the signing was announced. “The biggest challenge for him is that we don’t have a number 8 in our 4-2 system. 3-1. We have many options in attack, with experienced players.
“Ryan is a very nice, hard-working and committed player. He is not satisfied with his situation. He sees Liverpool as an opportunity to fight for eighth place in a 4-3-3. I wanted to go through a while.
Gravenberch went through Ajax’s academy and was the youngest rookie at 16. He played 11 games for the Dutch.
“I’m very pleased that the deal is closed and that I’m still here,” Gravenberch said. “If you look at it from the outside, it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world.
“Also the fans, the stadium, I think everything, from the outside, is fantastic. “
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