News'We knew what he is capable of' - Lijnders assesses Ryan Gravenberch impact
Pepijn Lijnders believes Ryan Gravenberch has the basis to fulfil his full potential at Liverpool after a promising start to his career with the club.
The 21-year-old midfielder joined the Reds from Bayern Munich on transfer deadline day in September and has already notched two goals and two assists in 10 appearances so far.
"We knew what he is capable of," Lijnders said of Gravenberch during a chat with Liverpoolfc.com at the AXA Training Centre. "It is the Ryan Gravenberch of Ajax that we see now.
"I'm not sure what happened at Bayern, you cannot judge that, but each player with confidence and without confidence is a different player. Each player with game time or without game time is a different player. That's how it is.
"That's why the Carabao Cup is really important for us as well because we know this and we feel this: a player who doesn't play doesn't get confident. You can do whatever you want on the training pitch, but in the end that's about it.
"Ryan in the final third, as an eight, is the one who slides, the one who still has overview, the one who has a first touch with his left or right to get out of a situation, out of proper pressure. He can keep the ball under high pressure and still find the passing option forward.
"He is a complete, complete eight with scoring and with attitude. It is the eight we searched for and the eight we got. We are thankful to our owners and our scouting and everyone who made it happen.
"It's nice he is Dutch as well!"
