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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Paul Gorst

'Asking for the same problems' - Ryan Gravenberch sent blunt Liverpool transfer warning

Liverpool transfer target Ryan Gravenberch has been warned against moving to Merseyside this summer by the legendary Marco van Basten.

Bayern Munich midfielder Gravenberch has made just four starts since moving to Bavaria from Ajax for an initial £16m last summer and hasn't been named in a starting lineup since November.

As a result, the Netherlands international has been linked with a move away from the Allianz Arena with Liverpool interested in potentially bringing him in this summer as they look to restructure a midfield department that is set to lose James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita.

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Gravenberch is one of several under consideration by Liverpool's recruitment team but Van Basten believes the 20-year-old would be making the same mistake he made when he traded Ajax for Bayern last year given the competition for places at Anfield.

The iconic Van Basten, who won the 1988 European Championships with Oranje, feels a move to Liverpool would harm Gravenberch's long-term international aspirations in an interview with Ziggo Sport in his homeland.

“You just have to be sure that you are always in the starting line-up," Van Basten said. "Otherwise, it is far too little to make such a choice. You have to be able to really give that club something, even when you sign, have added value.

"[That applies to] Gravenberch but also Noussair Mazraoui (at Bayern), they don't have that at the moment, so then you are just a competitor and that turns out wrong.

"Moving away? That's asking for the same problems. Go somewhere [where] you play. If you are not of added value or you have doubts, then you should not go. Money shouldn't be an issue for guys like that."

Gravenberch was tentatively named in connection with a move to Liverpool in the January transfer window but attention is believed to have been ramped up following the recent decision to walk away from a potential club-record deal for Jude Bellingham.

Liverpool had been linked for the best part of 18 months to the Borussia Dortmund and England international but have now opted to spread their summer transfer budget across a number of other options rather than shelling out a fee that would likely be somewhere between £115-130m.

German reporter Christian Falk tweeted on Wednesday evening that Gravenberch "didn't want to comment" on interest from Liverpool as he walked past the assembled media following Bayern's 1-1 draw with Manchester City that saw them eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.

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