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Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool is challenged by Bruno Guimaraes of Newcastle United (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

For some footballers, the transformation is gradual over time.

Usually, though, the change has to come with the team itself.

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Liverpool stood at such a crossroads with their midfield 18 months ago.



And with the exception of Endo, all were in their early twenties.

Each then went on to play their part – along with youngsters Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott, who were both already part of the squad – as Liverpool flirted with an unprecedented trophy quadruple for much of the campaign before having to settle on winning the League Cup.

But the arrival of Arne Slot as Klopp’s successor has seen another midfield change.

But the big transformation has come in the decision to employ Gravenberch, who until that point had forged his burgeoning reputation as an attacking midfielder, in a defensive pivot alongside Mac Allister, another whose forward tendencies had previously been more prominent before joining Liverpool.

It didn’t take long for any question marks to be banished, Gravenberch swiftly becoming an established and key member of a Reds team that shot out of the blocks under Slot at the start of the season.

“The coach called all the players for a talk,” recalls the Holland international from last summer.

The Premier League win at Manchester City last month was an example of how he can combine both those attributes while still showing his eye for a pass, as with the assist for Mohamed Salah’s opener, and the ability to score by slotting in the Reds’ second.

“I think all of us are similar players and we know from each other that we can trust each other: so, we can swap places, we look at each other and we understand each other,” says Szoboszlai of playing alongside Gravenberch and Mac Allister.

The versatility of Jones means he has deputised for all three at some point in the season and has featured more regularly this season than any of his previous terms since breaking into the Liverpool first team as a 17-year-old.

Now 24, Jones has popped up with a handful big goals, not least a home winner against Chelsea and a strike in the 3-3 Premier League draw at Newcastle United back in December.

And while Elliott, still only 21, and Endo have, for differing reasons, not had the minutes in the Premier League as last campaign, they have both featured prominently in the run to the League Cup final, Elliott scoring the winner in the quarter-final at Southampton while Endo has regularly appeared as a centre-back.

With Newcastle boasting a midfield of Sandro Tonali, the remoulded Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes – of whom Liverpool were long-time admirers – the battle in the centre of the park could well determine the destiny of the League Cup at Wembley.

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And the Reds know their engine room is nowhere near the cliff-edge.
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