Liverpool star Ryan Gravenberch makes alarming admission over transfer - 'I was going crazy'
Liverpool star Ryan Gravenberch has revealed how joining the Reds stopped him from 'going crazy.'
The 23-year-old Dutch international has admitted that he started to come off the rails mentally after a dream move to Bayern Munich turned into a nightmare under coach Julian Nagelsmann.
Gravenberch's father believes his son was close to depression before he was rescued from his demons by a £34million move to Anfield two years ago.
The midfielder had a stellar campaign under Arne Slot last season as Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions. And only now has he lifted the lid on the year from hell which saw him start just three Bundesliga games after joining Bayern from Ajax.
Gravenberch said: 'I was going crazy in my head. I was lucky my parents had moved to Munich for me. I don't know what would have happened if I had been out there just on my own…it was really tough mentally.
'I was happy we were champions, but my contribution was small. I know we stood there as champions but I did not feel like a champion at all. It was a totally different feeling from all the other times I won trophies.
'Under Nagelsmann, I would go three matches in a row spending 90 minutes watching my team. That is when I started to go crazy in my head. In the winter I was totally done with it. During the last two months of the season under (Thomas) Tuchel, I got more minutes than in the entire period before.
'I remember how I felt at Bayern, but I know I have managed to climb out of that low. And that is what I am proud of.'
Gravenberch's father, also called Ryan, believes his son would have been left battling a bout of depression if he had been alone in Munich. 'I think if we had not been there with him, he would have landed in a depression,' Gravenberch senior told Dutch magazine Helden.
'When you say something like that as a parent, people might think 'oh dear, here is another father who thinks his son is so brilliant.' But the football world is hard - and people in that world are too. A lot was said about him, but people forgot this was a young boy of 21.
'The whole Bayern Munich adventure never worked out like he expected. He was working really hard, but he was never given a chance to shine.
'At that time, we could not dream that he would get a transfer to Liverpool and that Arne Slot would become his coach. When I look at what has happened to him with Slot and Liverpool I have to say in all honesty that he has gone from hell to heaven!'
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