Liverpool were reportedly offered the chance to sign Manuel Ugarte this summer before he ended up at Manchester United instead.
The Uruguay international was made available after struggling to impress at Paris Saint-Germain, though he’d remained highly rated after previously performing well at Sporting Lisbon.
It perhaps makes sense that Man United felt it was worth signing Ugarte, but Liverpool took a bit of a gamble instead.
Despite Ryan Gravenberch’s poor form under Jurgen Klopp last season, he’s a player Arne Slot knows well and he felt he could make better use of him than Ugarte, according to the Times.
Liverpool were known to be in the market for a new midfielder, with the report stating that Ugarte was offered to them after they missed out on Martin Zubimendi.
Ryan Gravenberch is repaying Liverpool’s faith in him
One imagines it would have been tempting for LFC to try bringing in another midfielder after the blow of failing to land Zubimendi, but gambling on Gravenberch has proven the right choice.
The Netherlands international may have been unconvincing last season, as well as during a spell at Bayern Munich, but he’s now showing himself to be the perfect tactical fit for Slot’s side.
It’s hard to imagine Ugarte would have been able to do the same, with the 23-year-old looking far from convincing at Old Trafford so far.
Sometimes players just need a bit of time, as Gravenberch has shown, so it may still be that Ugarte will improve once he’s settled in at United a bit more.
Overall, though, Gravenberch currently looks like the more complete player, with the Times noting that he was preferred due to Slot’s desire to not just have a simple midfield destroyer in front of his defence.