Liverpool undroppable has proven Arne Slot right as major transfer question fades

In the summer, if you were predicting one thing that would almost certainly happen by the time January arrived, various transfer links to midfielders who could be alternatives to Martin Zubimendi for Liverpool would have seemed pretty safe to include on the list. But perhaps not so now.

In Ryan Gravenberch, there is a growing amount of evidence that the Dutchman could be the long term answer, even if he hasn't silenced every doubter just yet. Bigger matches are coming just around the corner, though, and it won't be long before we have a definitive answer on whether he can do it against the very elite sides. That is, frankly, the only question remaining.

Liverpool could still do with having a bit more depth in midfield, be that in the number six role or further forward. But the opportunity to bring in someone who would improve the starting XI has become a lot more difficult in the last few weeks. Frankly, getting an upgrade on Gravenberch at this point would be nearly impossible.

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He only gave the ball away once all game, completing 41 out of his 45 attempted passes. And while the stats will say he only attempted a single tackle through the 90 minutes, that was because his anticipation was so good that it wasn't otherwise necessary.

The numbers don't tell the whole story, either. Gravenberch was drifting past opposition midfielders like they weren't there at times and he is playing with such a high level of confidence. Sometimes just a shimmy and a drop of the shoulder was enough to breeze past an opponent.

"I do think tougher tests will come," former Liverpool midfielder Steve McManaman said on TNT Sports. "Even the goal today, that's Liverpool's midfield, he (Gravenberch) goes to press early, and as a defensive midfielder you've got to be there on counter-attacks, and that's one of the most important things. I love what he's doing, but I still think they'll go and get somebody."

At this point, though, who could you get that would come in and improve Arne Slot's roster without getting in Gravenberch's way? There are very few games each season where a Joao Palhinha-style holding player would be useful for Liverpool and signing someone else to come in as back-up would probably require Wataru Endo to move on.

Slot and his recruitment team felt that Gravenberch could do the role during the summer. So far, they couldn't have been more right. "I was delighted with him," the Reds' head coach said. "If you have a player who can turn away from his man, you immediately have an overload and I think that happened in the first minute when Virgil played him (Gravenberch) in and he turned away. We were a bit unlucky and not perfect in the last ball, but Ryan was outstanding again today."

Clearly, it remains beneficial for Liverpool to have multiple good players for each role. You only have to look at Luis Diaz's form this season for evidence of how that is working for him; the Colombian is benefiting from being pushed on by the looming presence of Cody Gakpo.

But if Liverpool found it tricky to spot an upgrade — aside from Zubimendi — on the market in the last window, that will only have been made even harder by the rapid development of Gravenberch. The Dutchman has transformed into a completely different player this season.

He will need to show that against the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Real Madrid in the next few weeks. In this form, though, he will fly into those fixtures oozing with confidence.