Ryan Gravenberch has spent the majority of his tenure at Bayern Munich on the bench. The midfielder was signed over the summer from AFC Ajax by Julian Nagelsmann. He seems to have been under the impression that he would be a key figure in the club’s midfield; a sentiment that was even reinforced after the Dutchmen had complained about his lack of minutes towards the end of the Hinrunde. Still, Gravenberch really hasn’t found a path to more regular minutes and is now having to gain headway under new manager Thomas Tuchel.
He has made a total of 26 appearances across all competitions for Bayern this season, but only four of those have been starts. For the rest, he’s been used as a substitute, which isn’t exactly the role he signed for when he agreed to make the move from Ajax to Bayern over the summer.
There are clubs across Europe that are interested in going for Gravenberch this summer knowing that he is unhappy with his current situation at Bayern and that they can probably get him for a little bit less than the €18.50m Bayern paid for him.
Per a new update from Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna (via @iMiaSanMia), Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester United are all in contention to potentially sign the Dutch midfielder this summer. From his perspective, if Bayern can’t give him more guarantees that he’ll be getting more minutes, it is entirely foreseeable that he will ask Bayern to leave in the summer transfer window.
Much like Marcel Sabitzer, who recently said he could see a long-term future for himself with Manchester United after his loan spell there ends, Gravenberch could also feel threatened by the summer arrival of Konrad Laimer from RB Leipzig. Despite the fact that he was a Nagelsmann-led transfer, Thomas Tuchel being manager of the club now doesn’t change the status of the Laimer move happening this summer, as he will leave Die Roten Bullen as a free agent. With Laimer in the mix, there will be even less opportunity for Gravenberch especially if the club doesn’t wind up entertaining a permanent sale of Sabitzer to Manchester United, as there is currently no buy option attached to the loan deal.
All in all, all signs are pointing towards a Gravenberch departure from Munich this summer, unless something drastically changes.
