Liverpool supporters would have liked to see their side sign a new holding midfielder in the summer after the Reds saw Martin Zubimenidi U-turn on a move to Anfield. They perhaps felt the same again in January, but for very different reasons as such a wish once again went unanswered.

Ryan Gravenberch has been the beneficiary of Liverpool’s transfer disappointment last year. In and out of the side during an inconsistent first season with the Reds, the Dutchman is now a firm fan favourite and one of the first names on Arne Slot’s teamsheet.

Starting all 31 of his appearances this season, he has only been withdrawn early three times in the Premier League.

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He also started Liverpool’s first seven Champions League matches before last week’s dead-rubber against PSV Eindhoven, with his importance crystal clear.

In the summer, supporters wanted a new starting number six and they were concerned when the Reds opted against looking elsewhere after missing out on Zubimendi. Little did the fanbase know, the answer was already in place at Anfield.

While not Gravenberch’s favoured position previously in his career, Slot made it clear that he saw it as a position for his compatriot in their very first conversation after the Liverpool head coach took over from Jurgen Klopp.

“I knew him because I played against him when he was at Feyenoord,” the Gravenberch said of Slot. “The first conversation was on the phone. He called me and asked me how I was, how I was feeling and everything, and how he saw me in the team. Which positions and everything, as a six and as an eight.

“Before I came here, they were also the positions I liked to play. More as an eight than six, but this season he put me at six and I’ve done really well.”

‘Really well’ is an understatement, with a graphic from Sky Sports that recently garnered attention on Reddit showing just how much of a success Gravenberch has been as a number six.

He is credited as boasting the best tackle success (81.25%), long ball accuracy (91.67%) and passing accuracy (88.34%) in the Premier League this season. He has also made the most interceptions while retaining possession (54) and has the fourth most successful take-on percentage (73.68%).

His transformation into a number six is complete. Rather than supporters fretting about the lack of holding midfielder at Anfield since Fabinho’s decline then departure, now the concerns are regarding what happens to Liverpool’s Premier League and Champions League challenges if Gravenberch ever succumbs to injury.

With Zubimendi now reportedly set to join Arsenal in the summer if his £50m release clause is activated, the Reds never re-entered the race for the Real Sociedad star. Thanks to Gravenberch, Liverpool consider themselves perfectly well-equipped at number six with a new recruit in such a role dropping down their list of priorities as a result - even if that has prompted mild anxiety in certain sections of the fanbase.

It feels like a lifetime since it was a problem position at Anfield, at least. The frustration at missing out on Zubimendi in the summer is now nothing more than a distant memory.

In the Reds’ last two Premier League wins over Ipswich Town and AFC Bournemouth, clips of Gravenberch retaining possession, turning away from multiple opponents and gliding away with the ball have gone viral.

For those of a certain age, it is perhaps no surprise that Zinedine Zidane is the midfielder’s boyhood idol.

“Back in the day I watched like Neymar, Messi and all these footballers were on TV,” he admitted. “And then my dad said one time to me, ‘you have to watch Zinedine Zidane on YouTube. Then you will see real football’.

“I went to YouTube and watched all these clips of Zinedine Zidane and was like, ‘wow!’. The technique, the composure, just everything. All of it. He’s on this (elite) level.”

This season Gravenberch has established himself as a firm fan favourite, too, with the aforementioned traits that make him a success at number six certainly not going unnoticed.

Gravenberch is well aware of the reception he receives if he ‘makes a tackle or gives a nice pass’. Adored by Liverpool supporters, he teases they are ‘crazy’ with the Dutchman still in awe of the Anfield atmosphere every time he takes to the pitch. And if you watch closely, you might even catch him signing along to ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ on matchday.

“The Liverpool fans are crazy. The atmosphere in the stadium, at Anfield, it’s amazing,” he told LFC TV in the latest episode of their ‘A Day With’ series. “I’m just happy to hear from the fans that they love me.

“It feels really nice and good. This is what you want. Playing football, playing football for such a big club, and playing good as well. The feeling is really nice and I hope I can keep this feeling for a long time.

“For me, if I’m on the pitch, I just want to give the fans a nice game that’s nice to look at. Sometimes when I hear ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, I sing with them when I’m on the pitch.

“The love that they (supporters) have for the club, that’s the thing. That’s the most for me. It doesn’t matter what you do. If you make a tackle or if you give a nice pass, you hear crazy stuff. You get energy.

“For example, in the game against Brighton we were not that good in the first half. But in the second half, wow, the noise. If you’re pressing and you win the ball, wow.

“I got injured after 35 minutes (in last season’s League Cup final) and was then watching on the bench. Again the fans. It was extra-time and the fans did, ‘Allez, Allez, Allez!’ And I think that gave the team a boost.

“It was really crazy, the atmosphere. It was a proud moment, a nice moment. My first trophy with the club and hopefully more to come.”