Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann raves over Liverpool's 'great talent'

Julian Nagelsmann has praised Ryan Gravenberch over his start to the season ahead of Germany's Nations League meeting with the Netherlands.

Two of European football's great nations will do battle in Munich on Monday night, with top spot in League A Group 3 on the line. If Germany avoids defeat, it will remain in first position in the group, while a win for the visitors will see the Netherlands ascend to top spot.

Gravenberch is in line for a fourth successive start for his country at the Allianz Arena and Nagelsmann, who briefly managed the 22-year-old at Bayern Munich , admitted he has been impressed by what he's seen from Gravenberch at the beginning of the campaign .

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"That he is doing so well now does not surprise me," said Nagelsmann via Dutch website vi.nl . "It was there and it is now coming out at Liverpool and the Dutch national team. I am happy for him. Ryan is a good, intelligent boy.”

Gravenberch joined Bayern in the summer of 2022, a year after Nagelsmann had taken over in Bavaria, but the pair did not even work together for a full season, with Nagelsmann departing in March of the 2022-23 campaign. Gravenberch started just one game in the Bundesliga - in which he was substituted at half-time - under Nagelsmann, and the Germany manager attempted to justify why he barely used the youngster at Bayern.

“His start at Bayern was not perfect either, but you could see his great talent," Nagelsmann said. “I had just become coach of Bayern and had two German internationals with Goretzka and Kimmich that I could not easily pass. That was difficult for Ryan, because he was used to being a regular at Ajax."

Gravenberch left Bayern just months after Nagelsmann's exit, joining Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. The Dutchman started just 12 times under Klopp in the Premier League last term, but has lined up in every top-flight game so far under Arne Slot, and is flourishing under a manager who has shown belief in him.

Speaking earlier this month, Gravenberch put his excellent early season form down to Slot's impact . "The coach gives me confidence and sets me up," Gravenberch told ESPN. "I just do my own thing. The things I did at Ajax, I do now. I discuss all kinds of things with him. It's mainly about football. We talked last season as well. I have a good bond with him and I'm very happy he's here.

"We think in the same way. He likes football and building up from the back. That suits me super well too. I'm at a top club now, at Liverpool. I played a lot more last season than in the season before. That was my goal. This season my goal is to play even more than last season and I'm on my way."