Van der Vaart claims youngster should have joined Spurs and is better than Bellingham

Rafael Van der Vaart has argued that Ryan Gravenberch would have been better off joining a club like Tottenham Hotspur last summer rather than moving to Bayern Munich.

Gravenberch broke into Ajax’s senior side when he was just 16 years of age and the youngster did not take long to establish himself as one of the Eredivisie side’s key players.

Bayern Munich
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Ahead of last summer’s transfer window, several clubs were alleged to be eyeing moves for the midfielder, with Tottenham named as one of the teams who were tracking his progress (Fichajes.net).

However, it was Bayern who won the race for Gravenberch, agreeing a deal worth €24m (£21.1m) including add-ons for the player last June.

The Dutch international has not quite had the expected impact since his switch to the Allianz Arena and has struggled to get much game time under his belt this season.

There have even been suggestions over the last few days that Gravenberch could be on his way out of Bayern this summer, with Liverpool said to be keen on snapping him up (Daily Mirror).

Van der Vaart believes that the former Ajax man is even more talented than Jude Bellingham, adding that he could have shined had he joined a club like Spurs or Dortmund.

The former Tottenham midfielder told Ziggo Sport (via Voetbal Primeur) about Gravenberch: “I think he is much better than Bellingham in his talent.

“Only Bellingham plays every week and Gravenberch does not have that chance to show it.

“(A move to Dortmund) or Tottenham Hotspur (would have been better). European sub-top sounds so negative, I think.

“Because I still think those clubs are great. You have to have an intermediate step now and then to really show how good you are.

“If you see him walking, upright. He can score, give assists. I think he is much better than he can show at Bayern.”

Spurs Web Opinion

It does not appear as if a move to Tottenham was ever really a serious option for Gravenberch last summer.

The North London club’s interest in the 20-year-old was seemingly just exploratory as a central midfielder was not a priority last summer following the signing of Yves Bissouma.

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