Because of the European Championship, Ryan Gravenberch started preparing for the new season at Ajax later than most of his teammates. He again had to deal with Steven Berghuis on the training field of the Amsterdam club, who also experienced the midfielder this summer at the European Championship with the the Dutch. Gravenberch, who has a good relationship with the acquisition, already fooled Berghuis with Ajax’s interest, even when the Feyenoord player had not yet signed.
“We sometimes made fun and teased him a bit”, Gravenberch looks back on Friday in an extensive interview with Ajax TV. “That we shouted ‘hey Ajax player, hey Ajax player’, things like that. It’s a bold step that not many people make, but it felt good for him. I think he will show a lot of great and beautiful things here,” according to the European Championship-goer, who does have a click with Berghuis. “I get on well with stef, also with the Dutch national team, I have been there with him for a long time. He’s very spontaneous and a nice guy.”
Steven Berghuis: ‘The Ajax players at the Dutch reminded me every day’
The acquisition of Ajax was regularly confronted with the much-discussed transfer at the European Championship.
Gravenberch also looks back on the disappointing European Championship for the Dutch national team. The Ajax player was given a base place in North Macedonia (0-3 win) by national coach Frank de Boer, who has since stepped down, while he came in as a substitute in the meeting with Austria (2-0 win). In the group match against Ukraine (3-2 win) and the game with the Czech Republic (0-2 loss) in the eighth final, Gravenberch stayed on the bench for ninety minutes. Despite the disappointment of the early exit, he has now drawn a line under the European Championship.
“Of course it’s sour when you go out like that, we expected a lot more from it,” sighs Gravenberch. “Oh well, in the end you just have to keep your head up and move on to the next.” Nevertheless, it was an experience that will never be forgotten for the Ajax midfielder. “If you can experience a European Championship at this age (nineteen years, ed.). Not many young people experience it, of course. And then it is of course special that you stand there and have made minutes.” The ninety minutes against North Macedonia in particular were special for Gravenberch, especially because the game was played in the Johan Cruijff Arena.
“It was nice. It was also quite getting used to for me because I was not used to the new system (5-3-2 system, ed.). And then you are also looking for yourself a bit, where you have to walk etc. I don’t look back completely satisfied on those ninety minutes, because I could have shown a bit more. In the end, it’s nice that you played a match at a final tournament,” says Gravenberch.