Liverpool Football Club has always been a place where drama never sleeps. It is a club that has given the football world stories filled with joy, heartbreak, betrayal, loyalty, and unbelievable twists. And once again, Liverpool fans find themselves in the middle of a transfer storm that could shake the very foundation of Arne Slot’s new project. This time, the name at the centre of it all is Ryan Gravenberch, the tall, powerful, and elegant Dutch midfielder who has finally found his rhythm in the red shirt of Liverpool. But as history always shows, when Real Madrid begins to circle, no club in world football feels completely safe.
It all began with whispers from Spain. Reports claimed that Xabi Alonso, the man who once wore the red of Liverpool and now stands as the boss of Real Madrid, has told Florentino Perez and the Madrid board to bring Gravenberch to the Santiago Bernabeu. For Liverpool supporters, it felt like a cruel twist of fate. Xabi, the hero of Istanbul 2005, the man whose passing once controlled the midfield at Anfield, now targeting one of Liverpool’s brightest stars for Madrid. For years fans adored him, but football is ruthless, and sometimes loyalty gets swallowed by ambition.
This story has layers. Real Madrid had already hurt Liverpool in recent seasons. They had taken Trent Alexander-Arnold, the local boy, the Scouser who dreamed of captaining Liverpool one day, on a free transfer. It broke hearts across the city. Before that, Madrid had shown strong interest in Alexis Mac Allister and Ibrahima Konaté. The Spanish giants had been moving like a predator circling around the red meat of Liverpool’s success. And now, just as Gravenberch was starting to explode under Arne Slot, they want him too.
Ryan Gravenberch arrived from Bayern Munich back in 2023, signed by Jurgen Klopp. His first season was not easy. The Premier League is not like the Bundesliga, and he struggled for minutes, for confidence, for rhythm. Some even questioned if he was the right signing. But then Klopp left, and Arne Slot arrived. Under Slot, everything changed. Gravenberch was trusted in a deeper midfield role, his elegance on the ball mixed with his strength off it made him undroppable. He became a pillar of Slot’s system, helping Liverpool win the Premier League title. Suddenly the critics were silent, and fans began to see him as the future of their midfield.
And that is exactly why Madrid are circling. Alonso has seen it. He knows what Gravenberch can do. He knows how the Dutchman’s passing, his power, and his calmness can fit perfectly alongside Aurelien Tchouameni in Madrid’s midfield. According to reports, Alonso has personally told Perez: this is the man I want. This is my wish.
The number being talked about is €75 million. That is what Liverpool value him at. And Liverpool fans know this number is not just about money. It is about respect. It is about the fact that Liverpool are no longer a selling club. They fought hard to build a squad capable of winning again, and Slot is not a manager who wants to lose his best pieces. Yet even as fans shouted on social media that Gravenberch is not for sale, doubts began to creep in. Everyone knows that the pull of Madrid is different. For decades, the Spanish giants have been the dream of players everywhere. The white shirt, the Bernabeu, the Champions League history, the promises whispered by Perez—it is hard to resist.