Liverpool has unlocked its own Jude Bellingham and it probably shouldn't be a surprise

Undoubtedly, the biggest success story for Liverpool so far in Arne Slot's tenure at Anfield has been Ryan Gravenberch . A bit-part player under Jurgen Klopp , everything has changed for the Dutchman since: he is now one of the first names on the teamsheet .

For the Reds, though, it won't have come as a complete surprise. Sky Sports' Melissa Reddy reported last year that before Gravenberch moved to Bayern Munich , he was on a three-man shortlist of options Liverpool had drawn up as potential midfield "game-changers". The other two were now-Real Madrid duo Jude Bellingham and Aurelien Tchouameni.

And those lofty comparisons have long been there. Brian Tevreden, who promoted a then-12-year-old Gravenberch to the Ajax's U15s side, believes he has shades of a prime Paul Pogba to his game. "Physically, I see Frank Rijkaard because he’s tall and very strong," he told Sky Sports .

"But technically, I would say he's a better version of Pogba in his best days at Juventus , in terms of his technique and his presence on the pitch. He's very dominant like Pogba was, and that's what I see in Ryan."

Former Ajax and Real Madrid playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, meanwhile, has long been singing his praises. He claimed that Gravenberch was "better" than Bellingham "in every way".

"What I think is the big difference [between the two players is that] Bellingham is a step lower at a club and always plays," Van der Vaart told Ziggo Sport in 2023 when the England ace was still at Dortmund. "I think Gravenberch is better than him, in every way and especially physically."

A year later, before Gravenberch's explosion at Liverpool under Slot, Van der Vaart doubled down. "I didn’t expect [Bellingham] to have such a good season at Real Madrid , but I stand by my comment at the time," he said.

"Bellingham is a great player, of course. After all, one career is different from the other. For me, that doesn’t take anything away from Gravenberch’s enormous qualities."

In Gravenberch's current role as a number six, he is a very different midfielder to Bellingham, who has been starring for Real Madrid as a number 10. It would be hard to argue against him being at least as good as the former Borussia Dortmund ace over the last few weeks, however, so good has his form been.

It remains true that the sample size is small but everyone at Liverpool knows that and Slot has made no secret of that fact, mentioning the lesser quality of opponents that he has faced so far at every opportunity. For Gravenberch to really make the Bellingham comparisons stick, then, he will need to perform at the same level consistently for the whole season.

The way things have been going, though, that should be far from impossible. Whatever the challenge thrown in front of the 22-year-old so far, he has swept aside anyone who has dared to get in the way. Given his best years are still way ahead of him, Gravenberch should continue to get better and better.