'We will see' - Liverpool's £34m star faces huge setback at Euro 2024 despite pre-season hopes

While Cody Gakpo has been the starring figure for the Netherlands, Liverpool teammate Ryan Gravenberch is yet to feature.

The midfielder has failed to make an appearance despite Ronald Koeman’s side reaching the quarter-finals. Still only 22, Gravenberch had been earmarked as a future star after breaking into the Ajax midfield aged 19. Yet, a failed move to Bayern Munich and a bit-part role under Jurgen Klopp in his first season in England has seen his stock drop.

And he has felt a familiar feeling at the Euros as he has watched on from the bench. Despite making 38 appearances last season, he played less than 1,850 minutes in total - that averages out to just 49 minutes per appearance. He was one of four midfielders signed last summer but he failed to make the impact that the other three did.

Yet, when speaking ahead of the Euros, he hinted that playing under Arne Slot could be the spark he needs to get his Liverpool career going. "And soon a Dutch trainer with Arne Slot. No, I've never spoken to him. Not even during my time as an Ajax player. But he is a trainer who likes attacking football. That should suit me, you would think. We will see."

That could prove a difficult task; having made just 12 starts in the league, he failed to displace Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai or Curtis Jones, while Harvey Elliott was the go-to man off the bench for Klopp. He will hope for a second chance under fellow-Dutchman Slot this summer but it is certainly a deep midfield roster he is competing against.

With Holland set to face Turkey and then the winner of Switzerland vs England, they have a chance of reaching the final but, given how the tournament has gone, he is likely to continue watching from the side lines.

Yet, when speaking to press ahead of the Euros, he was happy with his season’s work after leaving Bayern, who awarded him less than 1000 minutes in the 2022/23 campaign. "That's why I'm satisfied with my season at Liverpool (lack of game time at Bayern). I wanted to make more minutes and I succeeded. I have played good matches, but also lesser ones.”

While he cut a positive figure then, he will have to swallow his current frustrations ahead of pre-season where he will get the chance to stake his claim in front of the new Liverpool boss to hopefully change his career narrative - and he certainly has the ability to do it.