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Liverpool's view on Ryan Gravenberch deal collapsing after Palhinha to Bayern scrapped
Liverpool have been attempting to finalise a £34million transfer for Bayern Munich's Ryan Gravenberch.
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Liverpool have discovered whether their £34million transfer of Ryan Gravenberch will be thrown into doubt after the midfielder's current club, Bayern Munich, failed to secure a replacement for the 21-year-old. The Bundesliga champions had been actively trying to recruit several targets as cover from Gravenberch, but they spectacularly failed to get a signing over the line before the German window closed at 5pm UK time.
Fulham's Joao Palhinha was the top target for Bayern, having agreed a move for the Premier League star, but his deal collapsed and potentially plunged the Gravenberch deal in doubt.
However, The Times have claimed that Bayern failing to secure a replacement has no effect on Liverpool landing Gravenberch and all sides expect the deal to still go through.
Bayern had been eyeing up Palhinha after failing to agree terms with Chelsea for Trevoh Chalobah, but Sky Germany have claimed that after missing the deadline the Portuguese midfielder has been forced to return to England without securing his transfer.
Liverpool still expect to confirm Gravenberch before the Premier League's window closes at 11pm UK time, as the Netherlands midfielder has travelled to Merseyside in order to undergo a medical and complete the necessary final paperwork.
The Reds had beaten rivals Manchester United to a deal after Bayern changed their stance and were prepared to sanction a sale for Gravenberch, having initially only been prepared to let the highly-rated youngster leave on loan.
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There had already been enough doubt when Gravenberch's flight to Liverpool was cancelled on Thursday evening after the two parties had reached an agreement over the fee.
However, even though his overnight journey was delayed, it is not expected to jeopardise the deal which is set to be completed even though Thomas Tuchel's squad has been left smaller having failed to seal Palhinha as his replacement.
Jurgen Klopp, perhaps wary of the deal falling through, was not prepared to discuss Gravenberch's arrival during Friday's press conference. “I’m really sorry to disappoint you. I cannot talk about that, because nothing really happened yet,” he said. “All the decisive stuff has to happen. It’s Friday, right? If something happens, we can talk about it [after the Aston Villa game] on Sunday!”