Dutchman Gravenberch, 23, leads all Premier League midfielders this season for interceptions with 59, and ranks top among Liverpool players for the times he has won possession.
Also shortlisted for the main honour were Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Newcastle’s Alexander Isak, Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo, and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White and Chris Wood.
It is the first time since 2018-19 that a Manchester City player has not won the award.
Liam Delap (Ipswich), Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest), Dean Huijsen (Bournemouth), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Joao Pedro (Brighton), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) and William Saliba (Arsenal) were also on the young player shortlist.
Going into Sunday’s final game of the season against Crystal Palace, Salah has 28 league goals – five more than anyone else – as well as 18 assists – six more than any other player and two off the record of 20 held by Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne.
This season he also became the highest-scoring overseas player in Premier League history, overtaking Sergio Aguero’s 184 goals, and signed a new two-year contract to stay at Anfield until 2027.
This month Salah was named Football Writers’ Association footballer of the year for the third time after receiving more than 90% of the votes.
