Ryan Gravenberch has dropped out of the Netherlands squad due to an injury he sustained over the weekend and will now miss the upcoming Nations League matches against Spain.
The midfielder has enjoyed a superb campaign for Liverpool but, like a few in Arne Slot’s squad, his performance levels have dropped over recent weeks. He has played the full game in just one of Liverpool’s last five outings, a sequence that includes the Carabao Cup loss to Newcastle on Sunday and the Champions League trip to Paris.
A regular under Slot, the former Bayern Munich star has started every single Premier League match this season and that overreliance could perhaps explain his dip in form of late. As could the emergence of a fresh injury.
Having met up with the Netherlands squad on Monday, Gravenberch left the camp on Wednesday night. In a statement the Dutch FA said: “Ryan Gravenberch has left the Oranje’s training camp this evening. The midfielder is still suffering from an injury sustained over the weekend that prevents him from playing in the matches against Spain. Take care, Ryan.”
An injury did not seem obvious at the weekend in the 2-1 loss to Newcastle United at Wembley, with the 22-year-old replaced after 74 minutes as Slot made several late substitutes in a desperate attempt to overturn the losing margin.
(Image: Getty Images)
Liverpool will hope the injury is not too severe, and that he will be available for the club’s next game, which comes against Everton on 2 April. Traditionally a box-to-box midfielder, Slot has reinvented Gravenberch as an accomplished holding player this season and his partnership with Alexis Mac Allister has often provided the bedrock of Liverpool’s impressive performances this season.
The Dutchman played in every one of his country’s Nations League games earlier this season and the Netherlands face Spain in a two-legged to qualify for the finals in either Italy of Germany this summer.
Having joined from Bayern in the summer of 2023, along with midfield partners Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, Gravenberch has made 79 appearances for the club and is on course to earn a five league winners’ medal of his juvenile career.
