Brajan Gruda: who is he? The Liverpool ‘target’ defeated Vinicius Jr. and Luis Díaz in a crucial area.

According to reports, Liverpool is considering signing Mainz’s Brajan Gruda, a winger who has partnered with Sepp van den Berg this year. What role would he play on Arne Slot’s team?

Liverpool is reportedly considering a move for Brajan Gruda, a winger for Mainz. The Reds would reportedly pay about $22 million (£17 million/€20 million) for the seven-cap Germany under-21 international, who has a contract that runs through the summer of 2026.

Sport Bild is the source of the information, and they also state that other teams are interested in signing the 19-year-old. However, what kind of player is he, and does he satisfy a summertime need for Liverpool?

Gruda recently finished his first full senior football season, sharing the pitch with Sepp van den Berg, a Reds loanee. In the Bundesliga, he not only tied for second place in terms of goals scored per ninety minutes played, but he also contributed three assists, making him Mainz’s third most valuable player overall.

But his dribbling is his true strength. Gruda was among the top nine players in the Bundesliga for successful take-ons, advanced carries, and carries into the penalty area, according to FBRef. Only Jamal Musiala and Leroy Sané outperformed the Mainz player in terms of minutes per 90 for the former measure out of the 170 players who played as many minutes as him in Germany in 2023–2024; Jeremie Frimpong was the only player to outperform him on either of the other two. Gruda has been likened to players such as Vinicius Junior and Luis Díaz, but he completes more dribbles per ninety than the latter two.

He is compared to Takefusa Kubo and Nico Williams from La Liga, as well as Kingsley Coman, Karim Adeyemi, and Jadon Sancho in Germany, according to the FBRef scouting report. The big names just keep coming.

Gruda has really excellent stats, which Arne Slot, the new manager of Liverpool, would find appealing. His Feyenoord team’s offensive style mostly relied on dribbling. This season, only Manchester City (10.9) outperformed Slot’s team in the big five European leagues with an average of 9.4 carries into the box per 90.

Remember that Mainz only averaged 46.1% possession this season. What might Gruda have accomplished with Liverpool (207) or Feyenoord (217) if he could produce exceptional ball-carrying statistics for a side that averaged 133 touches per 90 in the final third?

If Liverpool is truly interested, the problem is with where he might fit into the team. Gruda occupies the right wing spot, which is unquestionably Mohamed Salah’s. Additionally, he would obstruct Ben Doak’s route after the young Scot heals from his wound.

However, Gruda might be the ideal winger the next Liverpool manager needs, given Mainz has used both a front three and a 4-2-3-1 configuration at times this season, exactly like Slot did at Feyenoord.

According to Liverpool.com, the Mainz winger’s evident dribbling prowess should appeal to Slot, It is unclear, though, how much influence he has over the Reds’ transfer policy. Gruda appears to be a guy worth keeping an eye on, since someone with his skill set is sure to make a significant move shortly.