“It’s nice to hear” – Ryan Gravenberch flattered by comparisons to ‘legend of the game’ | OneFootball

Ryan Gravenberch has been flattered by recent comparisons to a modern-day football ‘legend’.

The Liverpool midfielder has come of age this season, starting every Premier League and Champions League match so far in 2024/25 for the team who lead the way in both of those competitions and consistently delivering top-class performances.

He ws so impressive against Real Madrid a fortnight ago that, following our 2-0 win at Anfield, Arne Slot was asked if the 22-year-old could become ‘the next Toni Kroos’.

That particular comparison was mentioned to Gravenberch during the pre-match press conference on Monday ahead of the Reds’ clash against Girona this evening, and our number 38 took it as a huge compliment.

The Liverpool star replied (via liverpoolfc.com): “Yeah it’s nice to hear that, of course, because Toni Kroos is a legend of the game. He did a lot of good things, so it’s nice to hear.”

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Could Gravenberch become every bit as good as Kroos?

For Gravenberch to be spoken of in the same breath as the ex-Real Madrid and Germany powerhouse speaks volumes for how well the Dutchman has been playing this season.

Kroos’ trophy haul is staggering, with six Champions Leagues, seven league titles, five UEFA Super Cups, four domestic cups and the small matter of the World Cup on his CV in a glittering career which saw him play 670 times for Los Blancos and Bayern Munich combined, along with winning 114 international caps.

Similar to the Liverpool man, he originally played in a more advanced role before evolving into a top-class number 6, a position from which The Athletic‘s tactical writer Michael Cox said the German has ‘come to dominate’ like ‘no other player of this generation’.

Taking Gravenberch this season to Kroos in 2023/24 (his last as an active footballer), the Dutchman had only a slightly inferior pass success rate (89.1% to 91.5%) and outperformed the Real Madrid legend in terms of tackle success (56.5% to 40.7%), tackles and interceptions per game (3.94 to 2.97) and aerial duels won (85.7% to 66.7%), as per FBref.

The 22-year-old obviously has a long way to travel if he’s to emulate the success that the Germany icon has enjoyed in the sport, but based on what the Anfield star has shown in recent months, it’s not unthinkable that, in time, he could be regarded in the same rarefied company as the 2014 World Cup winner.

If he achieves that, he’ll have had quite the career in football.