Ryan Gravenberch’s struggles at Bayern Munich sparked fears he might be a lost talent – but it made him the player he is today.The Dutch midfielder has lived up to the ‘new Frank Rijkaard’ label that was once a burden upon him after flourishing at Liverpool.Gravenberch started 37 out of 38 league matches last season, as Liverpool were crowned championsAFPThe 23-year-old has been the Premier League champions’ best player this season, having been dubbed the best No.6 in the top-flight.Former Liverpool star Danny Murphy has gone one step further by claiming Gravenberch is the standout all-around midfielder.It marks a remarkable turnaround for the latter, who saw his fortunes completely transformed by Arne Slot‘s arrival at Anfield in 2024.Gravenberch’s Bayern Munich strugglesGravenberch was hailed as ‘one of the biggest talents in Europe’ by Bayern’s former sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic two years prior.The Netherlands international had just completed a £21million move from Ajax. but made just six starts for the Bavarians.Despite this, European football broadcaster Andy Brassell claimed Gravenberch had become a better player than he had been at Ajax.He exclusively told talkSPORT.com: “The reason that Gravenberch ended up at Bayern was, it wasn’t so much of a planned signing. “He had a year left on his Ajax contract. And they just thought, ‘Oh, yeah, we could need a young midfield player and there’s an opportunity.’ “It never felt like they had a plan for him at all. Now, bear in mind that Bayern are quite chaotic at the time. Gravenberch scored a stunner to help Liverpool to a Merseyside derby victory over Everton and has been one of the Reds’ outstanding players under Arne SlotGettyHe made a name for himself at Ajaxgetty“They’re still working out at that time whether they want their central midfield to be [Joshua] Kimmich and [Leon] Goretzka, who are very, very difficult to get past. There’s no doubt about that. And they were having doubts over that and thinking they needed more of a dedicated six. “Kimmich, because of his wing-backish leanings, even though he doesn’t enjoy playing right back, lends himself to a slightly freer role than that. And he’s got attacking attributes that you want to make the most of.“That kind of leads them to this long-term pursuit of Joao Palhinha, who doesn’t really work out, but is the player they want and the player they end up eventually getting. “Now, with Gravenberch, because they get him as an opportunity rather than a planned signing, he’s an afterthought.“I don’t think they really put that much into his development. But we talked before about Hugo Ekitike and how much he learned from an unfavourable situation at PSG – it’s kind of the same with Gravenberch at Bayern. “He goes there and he quickly realises that it’s going to be hard for me to get a game. There’s not really a role here. And he’s still very young.England manager Thomas Tuchel rarely put his trust in GravenberchGetty“He’s still developing as a player. At that point, it looks like Gravenberch is going to be more of an attacking midfielder.“Given that Bayern play with wingers a lot as well, I think there’s a doubt whether he fits that system.“You look at the fact they’ve got the two big guys, as we said, still ruling the roost, and it’s quite difficult to fit him in, “I think, especially when he was coming out of a position where he wasn’t one of Ajax’s very best players. He’s a good player, but certainly a player where it felt like Bayern was a surprise. It felt like it was a bit of a leap for him. And so it proved in the end.”Ryan Gravenberch’s stats at Bayern MunichRyan Gravenberch’s stats at Bayern MunichGames: 34Games: 95Goals: 1Goals: 6Assists: 1Assists: 8Minutes played: 947Minutes played: 6,738Trophies won: 2Trophies won: 2How much did Liverpool pay for Gravenberch?He was rescued by Liverpool on deadline day 2023 for £34m, but completed just one full 90 minutes under Jurgen Klopp.Slot’s subsequent failure to sign now-Arsenal star Martin Zubimendi saw him turn to Gravenberch to play the role, and the rest is history.Gravenberch’s success as a holding midfielder has reportedly caused a wave of ‘regret’ to sweep over his old club, Bayern Munich.But Brassell argued that the Bundesliga champions still got a great deal and deserve credit for their part in his development. “The way he’s been able to adapt at Liverpool firstly says that Bayern have done some sort of decent job with him, even if it wasn’t enough to get them into their first team,” he told talkSPORT.“It’s developed him in a way. He’s a much better player than he was at Ajax by the time he arrived at Liverpool, simply through playing a few games and training with Bayern the whole time.“Obviously, there’s enormous experience on their coaching staff, whatever the particular era that they’re in. There are senior players who you can learn from. “You think of Kimmich himself, Goretzka, Thomas Müller, so many other players you can learn off. “Really, Bayern get a really good deal out of it because they sell Gravenberch for two and a half times what they bought him for.Gravenberch trained alongside some of Europe’s elite at BayernGetty“So really, they got an OK deal out of it to pick up a player, not quite on a whim, but really not as part of a long-term project. As more of a, let’s buy this guy and see if we can mould him into something. “It turns out he finds it quite difficult to fit in the team, and they find it quite difficult to fit him in the team. “Then to turn him into two and a half times what you spent on him when you figured out he’s not what you’re looking for.“That feels pretty good to me.”