Ryan Gravenberch attracted rave reviews with his performance against Toulouse but Jurgen Klopp has warned other teams that this is only the beginning for the midfielder.
Liverpool defeated the Ligue 1 side 5-1 at Anfield to maintain their perfect record in the Europa League group stage, with Gravenberch producing a man-of-the-match display in his ninth appearance for the club.
The Dutchman capped his showing by scoring the Reds’ fourth and sparing the blushes of Darwin Nunez who hit the post after rounding goalkeeper Guillaume Restes in front of the Kop.
Klopp was delighted with what he saw from the midfielder, insisting that he is “not even halfway” to his full potential at Anfield.
“A good player, huh? I told him when he came off, nice player! I’m so happy for him that he starts really enjoying his football again,” the boss told TNT Sports after the contest.
“You can see it. His first touch is incredible, how strong he is in tight spaces. He’s not even halfway where he can be, but it’s really promising.
“He has a lot of things to improve, that’s really good news. He’s really young and there’s much more to come. Really good.”
Gravenberch has started just one Premier League game since joining the Reds from Bayern Munich in the summer but has been a regular fixture across the League Cup and Europa League.
The 21-year-old has put himself in pole position for another start against Nottingham Forest this weekend after once again demonstrating that he has all the attributes required to thrive in a Liverpool midfield.
Klopp continued by saying that Gravenberch is “starting to believe in himself again” after a difficult spell in Germany and that reiterated that there are plenty of improvements that can still be made.
“I really like him as a boy and as a player. It’s nice to see how much he is starting to believe in himself again,” added the manager.
“That’s really important. Lots to improve still which is good. There is so much more to come and that’s good.”
Klopp has a wealth of options in the middle of the park after making four midfield acquisitions over the summer, but he was visibly thrilled by what he had seen from Gravenberch on Thursday night.
If he is indeed still a long way from reaching the peak of his powers then fans have got plenty to get excited about with regards to what could come from the new No. 38 in next few years.
Fan Comments