Liverpool went into the summer transfer window needing a midfield rebuild. An underwhelming Premier League campaign in 2022/23 which saw them finish 5th and fail to qualify for the Champions League was largely put down to their ineffective midfield. They were often overrun in the middle of the park, struggling to take control of matches.

Fabinho looked a shadow of the player we had witnessed in the last few years, Thiago appeared in less than half of the Premier League matches due to injury, James Milner was in his mid-thirties and wasn't able to play 90 minutes regularly, Naby Keita mustered up just eight league games as he continued to struggle for fitness, captain Jordan Henderson wasn't getting any younger, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was also sidelined regularly and was clearly no longer fancied by Jurgen Klopp, Fabio Carvalho fell by the wayside after a promising start while youngsters Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Stefan Bajcetic contributed but still lack the experience and quality needed to play every week for such a big club.

Milner, Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain left the club at the end of their contracts. At least two midfielders were needed and, for months, Liverpool were linked to the signing of Jude Bellingham. After the Englishman chose Real Madrid, Liverpool announced the signing of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton. It was a start. But it was a case of one step forward and two steps back as Henderson and Fabinho left the club for Saudi Arabia. If Liverpool needed at least two midfielders at the start of the transfer window, they now needed at least three more.

On the final day of his £60 million release clause, Liverpool moved to make Dominik Szoboszlai their second signing of the summer. And after failing to beat Chelsea to the signatures of both Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, they turned to 30-year-old Japan captain Wataru Endo from Stuttgart. And on Transfer Deadline Day, the Reds have made perhaps the most interesting signing of the lot, the £34.2m purchase of Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich.

Read more: Graphic of Liverpool's squad depth after Ryan Gravenberch signing shows what they're missing

The three players Liverpool thought were 'game-changers'

Interestingly, Liverpool were heavily linked with the Dutchman 12 months ago but he opted for a move to Bayern Munich instead. In fact, according to Sky Sports journalist, Melissa Reddy, Gravenberch was one of three players that Liverpool believed could develop into "game-changers." After Liverpool agreed a deal to sign Gravenberch, she shared an extract of analysis on the player and tweeted: "Analysis on Ryan Gravenberch from April, when Liverpool started to really put this move in motion. Reminder: Before he opted to go to Bayern from Ajax, he was on the club's shortlist of 3 midfielders they felt could develop into game-changers. Other two: Bellingham, Tchouameni."

But what happened to the three players 12 months on? Let's take a look:

Ryan Gravenberch

Gravenberch joined Ajax at the age of eight and graduated through the various age groups in the academy. He became the youngest ever Ajax player to play in the Eredivisie at 16 years and 130 days, surpassing the record of 16 years and 242 days set by Clarence Seedorf. He spent two full seasons as a first-team player at Ajax and was capturing interest from across Europe. After more than 100 appearances for his boyhood club, Gravenberch chose Bayern Munich as his next destination with Liverpool also keen.

But things didn't go to plan for Gravenberch in Germany. In total, he played 33 times in all competitions, 24 of which came in the league. However, he started just three times in the Bundesliga all season playing just 559 minutes. During those minutes he failed to register an assist or score a goal. He did play six times in the Champions League, playing 90 minutes against both Viktoria Plzen and Inter Milan. But he failed to play a minute in either leg against Manchester City in the quarter-final as Bayern lost 4-1 on aggregate.

Gravenberch will now look to get his young career back on track at Liverpool under Klopp. At just 21, the midfielder is young enough to fulfil his incredible potential despite taking one step back at Bayern Munich.

Jude Bellingham

If reports were to be believed, Liverpool were very interested in signing Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund. They were heavily linked 12 months ago and in the build-up to this summer before pulling out.

Similar to Gravenberch, the midfielder joined his boyhood club - Birmingham City - at the age of eight and became their youngest ever player. Bellingham appeared at the age of 16 years, 38 days, beating the record set by Trevor Francis in 1970. Having played just 44 times for Birmingham during the 2019/20 campaign, he was snapped up by Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth an initial £25 million. As a mark of respect, Birmingham retired the No.22 shirt "to remember one of our own and to inspire others." They were mocked at the time but they knew the player Bellingham was about to become.

He spent three seasons in Germany at Dortmund and despite his tender years, played 132 times for the club. He established himself as one of the biggest young talents in world football with major European clubs wanting to sign him. Liverpool were certainly one of those but Real Madrid won the race this summer, paying an initial £88.5 million. He is destined for great things.

Aurélien Tchouaméni

Another player that Real Madrid beat Liverpool to. The Frenchman made a name for himself at Bordeaux before Monaco signed him in January 2020. It was there where he really started impressing and it was only two seasons later that the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid came calling. Of course, he joined Real for a fee worth around £85.3 million. In his first season at the Bernabeu, he played 50 times in all competitions but went trophyless as Barcelona won La Liga and they were dumped out of the Champions League by Manchester City. Still only 23, Tchouaméni has plenty of time to realise his full potential as a 'game-changer' alongside Bellingham and learning from the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric at Real Madrid.