Midfield jewel Ryan Gravenberch had recently emphasized several times that he was not satisfied with his first year at Bayern. The youngster was struggling with his few playing times with the German champions and definitely wants to play more again in the future. Meanwhile, compatriot and HSV legend Rafael van der Vaart is still convinced of his qualities – and even sees more potential in Gravenberch than in ex-BVB star Jude Bellingham.
The Dutchman, who ended his active career in Denmark four and a half years ago, said in an interview with Munich’s “tz” that he still sees Ryan Gravenberch as an absolute top talent in European football: “If he’s in a good mood and I think his qualities are better than Jude Bellingham,” van der Vaart told the newspaper.
Gravenberch, who was born in Amsterdam, signed for the German record champions for five years last summer, but was not able to establish himself as a regular player in his debut season in Munich.
FC Bayern: Van der Vaart shows understanding for Gravenberch
There were 33 competitive games in all competitions, but only six of them from the start. Van der Vaart recommends that both FC Bayern and the 21-year-old continue to try each other: “He’s a great player. If I were Bayern, I wouldn’t sell him again so quickly.”
Should the midfielder still push for a change of club in order to get more minutes, the 109-time Dutch international van der Vaart has another piece of advice for Gravenberch: “In his place, I wouldn’t go back to a big club. A loan would be maybe better. Ajax could bring him back for a year, that would be good. They would need him. He just has to play.”
Match practice is currently the most important element for the development of the top talent, emphasized the vice world champion from 2010. According to “VdV”, the fact that things didn’t go too well for Gravenberch in the first year in the Bundesliga was also due to the overall performance of the Munich team: “ When you sign such a big talent like him, it’s normal that he needs time. The first year at Bayern wasn’t easy. It was his first time abroad. It also didn’t go well for the whole team.”