Gravenberch notes Bayern Munich interest as Ajax talks break down

Ajax’s Ryan Gravenberch has acknowledged interest from Bayern Munich, while revealing contract renegotiations have stopped.

The 19-year-old’s stock has continued to rise following appearances at Euro 2020, but his contract with Ajax expires at the end of the 2022-23 season.

While in camp with the Netherlands national team, Gravenberch clarified his position with Ajax.

“Contract negotiations have now been stopped,” he told NOS. “I have just one more year on my contract now and that’s it, really. We’ll see.

“My father and agent are very busy with that [handling his contract status] while I focus on football.”

In relation to Bayern’s reported interest, the midfielder admitted he was well aware.

“Yeah, of course [I’ve seen the Bayern interest],” he said. “You can read it everywhere, so there is interest from Bayern, but I think there are several clubs.

“I have no idea, I have no idea. But if you’re worth 25million, you can be proud because it’s a lot of money, of course.”

Voor Ajax Amsterdam pic.twitter.com/6Yz3keupAN

— Ryan Gravenberch (@RGravenberch) March 20, 2022

Despite the rise in profile, Gravenberch was left out of a recent Dutch squad by Louis van Gaal due to a dip in club form.

After playing 90 minutes as Ajax came from behind to win 3-2 over bitter rivals Feyenoord on Sunday, it was something Gravenberch noted his disagreement on.

“A lesser phase, I don’t want to see it that way. Before the winter break I didn’t play very well, but after the winter it really only went up,” he said.

“Then the team does well and you have to fight yourself back into the team, I just did that in the end. So I don’t agree with that [from Van Gaal] so much.”

Having already qualified for Qatar, the Oranje will host Denmark and Germany in Amsterdam over the upcoming international window.