Ryan Gravenberch‘s exile from the Netherlands setup will continue into November, with the Liverpool midfielder left out of the squad again.
Gravenberch has not been involved for the Netherlands since his £38.5 million move to Liverpool at the end of the summer transfer window.
Having left Bayern Munich on deadline day, the 21-year-old turned down a call-up for the U21s to focus on settling at his new club and find his feet in a new country.
That angered the Dutch FA, including senior manager Ronald Koeman and U21s counterpart Michael Reiziger, with it confirmed that he was dropped for October internationals as punishment.
“It was not an option to call him up now. The signal has now been sent to him,” Reiziger explained.
This treatment extends to the November break, with Gravenberch not included in the provisional squad for either the Netherlands senior or U21s teams.
Koeman’s senior side face the Republic of Ireland (Nov 18) and Gibraltar (Nov 21) in their final qualifiers for Euro 2024, with their place at the tournament not yet secured.
Meanwhile, the U21s will play Gibraltar (Nov 16) and Sweden (Nov 20) with an opportunity to qualify for the U21 Euros early.
It is clear that Gravenberch has been left in exile due to his understandable decision to channel his energies on Liverpool – and the reaction is baffling.
After a year effectively wasted at Bayern Munich, the midfielder is finding his form again under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool – undoubtedly boosted by those early weeks in training – which should benefit his country.
On Thursday night, the No. 38 scored his second goal for the club in an outstanding performance as the Reds beat Toulouse 5-1 in the Europa League.
So far, Gravenberch has played nine games for Liverpool, starting five of those, with two goals and two assists in 417 minutes of football.
Virgil van Dijk, captain of his country, is named in the senior squad, and though Cody Gakpo has been left out of the provisional group, Koeman has already suggested he could receive a late call-up.
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