"Helped Liverpool to become the team that they are" - Stan Collymore names Reds star as most impressive player of PL so far

Stan Collymore has named Liverpool star Ryan Gravenberch as the most impressive player in the Premier League. He believes that the Dutchman has done better than Chris Wood, who has been close behind the former Ajax man.

Speaking to DAZN News, Collymore stated Jurgen Klopp wanted Jude Bellingham but had to settle for Graenberch and it has proved to be a great deal for the Reds. He added that the £34 million they paid to sign him from Bayern Munich is a bargain and said:

"Ryan Gravenberch at L'pool. L'pool wanted, or Jurgen Klopp wanted, Jude Bellingham. A number of players were mooted before Gravenberch came in. It took him a little bit of time to settle. But he's powerful, he's strong, he can nip the ball back, he can get on the front foot, he can create chances. £34 million is a bargain these days. He's come from the Ajax school so he knows all the technical requisites."

"But I would say Ryan Gravenberch all day long. In terms of helping a club to where they are at in the Premier League, as opposed to, I could have picked somebody from Brighton who's having a good season or I could have picked Chris Wood because of his goals output. I think that Gravenberch's input has helped Liverpool to become the team that they are this season."

Liverpool are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table, with Chelsea and Arsenal sitting behind them with 28 points after 14 matches.

Virgil van Dijk sent message to Liverpool teammate earlier this season

Virgil van Dijk spoke about Ryan Gravenberch earlier this season and sent a strong message to the Liverpool teammate. He claimed that the midfielder needed to keep his foot grounded and keep working hard to get to his best level.

He said:

"(My message is) stay fit, keep going, stay grounded, and don't listen to the praise that much. Just stay calm and play well. He is playing with a lot of confidence with and without the ball. He has not had a lot of injuries and he is growing into it. He is very important and (Alexis) Mac Allister Mac Allister and (Dominik) Szoboszlai as well. It is a good triangle and they are still growing and learning. We did better in the second half in my opinion. In the first half, we scored the 1-0. We controlled the game - we poorly gave a goal away - and that obviously could have been dangerous but we scored very quickly after that and that helps. They have to come out a little bit more and then there is a little bit more space to play."

Liverpool face Everon this weekend in the Merseyside derby and will face Fulham and Tottenham before the festive fixtures.