Rio Ferdinand heaps praise on Ryan Gravenberch after Merseyside derby

Rio Ferdinand might need a long-standing affiliation with Manchester United, however no Liverpool fan would disagree with one remark that he made in the course of the Merseyside derby this afternoon.

The Reds prevailed 2-1 because of first-half objectives from Ryan Gravenberch and Hugo Ekitike, with the Dutch midfielder offering the help for the ex-Eintracht Frankfurt striker to double our lead simply earlier than the half-hour mark.

Our quantity 38 was named the Premier League Younger Participant of the Season final time period, and he’s begun the present marketing campaign in equally spectacular style.

Ferdinand left awestruck by Gravenberch

The 23-year-old beat Jordan Pickford with an imposing end to open the scoring after simply 10 minutes in opposition to Everton, and he later threaded an ideal go to the French centre-forward for Liverpool’s second purpose.

Simply after Ekitike discovered the online from the Dutchman’s go, Ferdinand took to X with a brief but completely correct verdict of: ‘Gravenberch, some participant!’

Gravenberch has been immense for Liverpool

Having additionally given very good performances in opposition to Burnley and Atletico Madrid over the previous week, the Netherlands worldwide has been a beacon of consistency since returning to the beginning XI following his suspension for the opening day win over Bournemouth.

He already has two objectives and assists every within the first 5 weeks of this season, equalling his mixed G/A tally from the entire of 2024/25 (Transfermarkt), with the 23-year-old including an attacking affect to his totally spectacular recreation.

As per Sofascore, Gravenberch gained seven of his 11 duels in the present day, together with finishing 47 of his 56 passes (84% success) and 100% of his dribbles, making 5 tackles and executing one key go. It’s no marvel that the Liverpool Echo‘s Ian Doyle wrote that the Dutchman had a ‘enormous affect’ on proceedings at Anfield

It appears loopy to assume now that, had the Reds signed Martin Zubimendi 13 months in the past, our present quantity 38 might have struggled to get into Arne Slot’s beginning XI, having typically been ignored by Jurgen Klopp within the marketing campaign prior.

Proper now, Kopites wouldn’t commerce the 23-year-old for any midfielder in world soccer!