Jurgen Klopp plays down injury fears over Ryan Gravenberch after Liverpool’s new £35m midfielder limped off on his debut in victory over LASK
- The Liverpool midfielder limped off in Thursday’s Europa League victory
- But Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is unconcerned after speaking to the 21-year-old
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Jurgen Klopp has allayed fears that Ryan Gravenberch could be on the sidelines after limping off injured in Thursday night’s Europa League group stage win.
The midfielder moved to Anfield in a £35million summer move from Bayern Munich and was given his first start as the Reds came from behind to beat LASK 3-1 in Austria.
Gravenberch played a central role in midfield and provided the assist for Luis Diaz’s goal in the second half, giving the visitor the lead for the first time in the match.
However, there was concern among Liverpool supporters as they saw the 21-year-old Dutchman carefully make his way from the side as he was being substituted. However, Klopp insists it was just cramps and not a serious problem.
“He played really well, he told me he had cramps, so that makes sense,” said the Liverpool manager TNT Sports.
Jurgen Klopp (center) has calmed injury fears about Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch (center left)
The 21-year-old (center of floor) received treatment before limping off in the 71st minute on Thursday
“I think it was his first start in a while and he did really well. For a long time he was the best player on the pitch and in the first half the frustration grew a bit and you saw him get a bit lost, you know, “where is he?”.
“But that’s normal, these things happen, but he stayed in the match as long as possible and had very good moments. He set up a good goal for Luis Diaz and because he didn’t know much about his teammates, it looked quite looking good,” he added. Klopp.
Klopp revealed that Gravenberch (in the air) suffered from cramp before his substitution
Liverpool fell behind early in their first Europa League appearance since the final defeat to Sevilla in 2016, during Klopp’s first season in charge.
Major changes in the seven years since mean not one player who started that match played for Liverpool on Thursday as they began their silverware campaign in Europe’s second cup competition.
Gravenberch was handed his first start for the Premier League giants after making his debut as a substitute in Liverpool’s win over Wolves.
His last start before that was a 2-1 Bundesliga win for Bayern Munich against Köln on the final day of last season, where he was grabbed by Thomas Tuchel after 71 minutes.