The Liverpool star told him to change his stance to emulate the Arsenal legend and Man City favourite

Speaking to Dutch outlet Voetbal International, Van Der Vaart explained: “I advise Ryan to go for a defensive midfielder role. It won’t be an easy choice for him because he can do so much more. You can compare him to Nigel de Jong of the past.

“Nigel could do so much more than the subordinate controller that he eventually became. But in that particular role he reached an absolute peak. Nigel decided he was going to be a pit bull and that was it. Ryan is also very versatile and I recommend him to do it. he makes a similar choice in a role as Patrick Vieira once played at Arsenal and France.

It comes days after Gravenberch opened up about his early days on Merseyside and confirmed he would like to stay at the club for “years to come”. Although the former Ajax ace has been in and out of the Liverpool team, he has enjoyed a much more fruitful season compared to his previous one at Bayern.

He told Algemeen Dagblad: “That’s why I’m happy with my season at Liverpool (lack of playing time at Bayern). I wanted to get more minutes and I did it.

“I’ve played good games, but even less. No, I’m not as tired as after a season where you’ve played everything. I haven’t played everything. Can that freshness be an advantage? Well, I’m ready if you ask me anyway, let’s make the final selection first.

Gravenberch will need to impress Slot when he returns for pre-season in July. “A top club, I hope to play here for years to come,” he added. “And soon a Dutch coach with Arne Slot.

“No, I never spoke to him. Not even during the time I was like a year Ajax player. But he is a coach who likes attacking football. It should suit me, you’d think. We will see.”

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