Mohamed Salah is getting old, but he’s still here and he’s still thriving for Liverpool.
The long-time talisman turned 33 this summer, and there’s a sense that the overload of attacking signings this summer were completed with an eye on the Egyptian stepping into the final stretch of his Premier League career.
Last season, Salah took it on himself to win the Premier League, making merry under Arne Slot’s wing in the first year since Jurgen Klopp stepped down and putting in an individual campaign for the ages, breaking any number of records and posting 34 goals and 23 assists across all competitions.
Now, things are a bit different, with the likes of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz signed for British-record fees in what could shape the Reds’ frontline for many years to come.
Times are changing down Anfield Road, and though Salah continues to play a focal role in the project, having scored three goals and supplied three assists already this term, the weight of responsibility is no longer so heavy.
And this is without even acknowledging the emphatic early form of Hugo Ekitike, who is giving Salah and Isak a run for their money as the club’s main man up top.
Ekitike’s start to life at Liverpool
Six games, four goals, one assist. Not a bad way to announce yourself to the England game. Ekitike left Eintracht Frankfurt and signed for Liverpool in a deal rising to £79m in July, and he’s been hailed for his “really clever” play by Wayne Rooney, who knows a thing or two about scoring in the Premier League.
Isak came off the bench for his league debut in a Liverpool shirt last time out, in the Merseyside derby, but Slot has quite the conundrum on his hands as the ostensibly second-fiddle star continues to go from strength to strength.
There are, for sure, worse problems to have as a manager.
Against the Toffees, Liverpool arguably played their finest football of the season in that eventful first half, with the 23-year-old demonstrating his natural ease in jinking through the lines to latch onto the ball and guide it into the net, past Jordan Pickford.
Threading through the assist for Ekitike’s latest goal was Ryan Gravenberch, and while the French forward has started the season in fine fettle, it is the man in the middle who has been the star of the show across the past five weeks.
Gravenberch is becoming Liverpool’s best player
Martin Zubimendi is almost three months into his Arsenal career. The Spain international joined the Gunners for £60m in the summer and is regarded as a coup for Mikel Arteta’s side. He is one of the silkiest midfielders out there.
Gravenberch walked all over him at Anfield earlier this month, to use some sporting jargon, and it all might’ve been so different, had Zubimendi accepted Liverpool’s proposal to sign him in 2024.
He didn’t, opting to remain with Real Sociedad. It stang, let’s get that straight. However, Gravenberch rose from mediocrity to form the nucleus of newbie Slot’s engine room, having been utilised sporadically by Klopp beforehand.
Still only 23, the Dutchman was instrumental in winning the Premier League last season, and he’s only gotten better since the summer, it seems, with journalist Daniel Storey even remarking on the Totally Football Show that he’s been “the best player in the country” across these opening weeks, having scored, assisted and dominated against Everton on Saturday.
Gravenberch wasn’t at his crispest in possession, but that’s only because he took it upon himself to make things happen in the final third, winning seven duels and making five tackles too.
The campaign is young, but Gravenberch has started with staggering style, looking even more robust and complete than last year, when he stepped into the place meant for Zubimendi and made it his own, crowned the 2024/25 Hublot Young Player of the Season for his performances.
Ryan Gravenberch in the Prem under Arne Slot
Stats (* per game)
24/25
25/26
Matches (starts)
37 (37)
4 (4)
Goals
0
2
Assists
4
1
Touches*
66.5
76.0
Pass completion
89%
88%
Key passes*
0.7
1.5
Dribbles*
1.0
1.5
Ball recoveries*
5.2
5.3
Tackles + interceptions*
3.5
2.8
Total duels (won)*
5.0 (57%)
5.3 (55%)
Stats via Sofascore
Much has remained the same for Gravenberch, but he’s now starting to be a bit more progressive on the ball, moving forward more frequently and being rewarded for his ambition with a sharp uptick in direct goal contributions.
Gravenberch is the life-force of this Liverpool team, the beating heart. Whether he manages to maintain this new level across the span of the season remains to be seen, but we wouldn’t bet against it.
Last year, this young, powerful and technically proficient midfielder proved he could raise his game, right? Now he’s merely doing it again, marking the latest development in a journey which has yet to reach the surface; it’s not even close.
Though Liverpool have left something to be desired across the opening weeks of the season, they have still won five games out of five in the Premier League and claimed three points in their Champions League opener too. There is a pervading sense across the country that the Reds are a shoo-in for a successful top-flight title defence, though it is far too early to declare such a thing with any real conviction.
If Liverpool do achieve their goals, Gravenberch will be at the heart of everything, with his continuing role in the middle of the park becoming something truly special. So many times in recent years have the club turned to Salah and the skipper, Virgil van Dijk, for inspiration. This is still true.
However, Gravenberch indeed stakes a compelling claim for the best player on Merseyside so far this term, becoming a talisman in a different fashion to Salah, who remains a focal point but with greater quality in the final third to ease him toward the autumn of his Liverpool career.
In any case, this is quite the team, and Liverpool are looking to make it a special year.
