What Sheffield United can expect from Brewster and were Liverpool right to sell?
Sheffield United are the only club in the Premier League yet to score this season and it's no surprise Chris Wilder's side have spent big in a desperate attempt to fix their woes in front of goal. The Blades have fended off interest from rivals Crystal Palace and Aston Villa to land highly rated Liverpool striker Rhian Brester. In doing so, they have broken their transfer record for the second window in succession after shelling out £23.5m for the 20-year-old.
From Liverpool's perspective it is clearly a shame Brewster has been forced to leave for regular playing time. Brewster was one of the club's better performers during their pre-season tour of Austria, following up on his goal against Stuttrgart with a brace against Salzburg as Liverpool came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. At that point it seemed Brewster would get chances to play but things started to turn around the Community Shield.
The England U21 international happened to miss a decisive spot-kick in Liverpool's Community Shield defeat to Arsenal but the wheels were already in motion for his departure. Liverpool haven't given up on Brewster but have reluctantly been forced to cash in. They still think highly of him, which is why they have included a buy-back clause in his move to Bramall Lane.
Liverpool were prepared to go through this summer without making one significant addition as a result of COVID-19 but have ended up committing more than £40m for Diogo Jota from Wolves and in excess of £20m for Thiago from Bayern Munich. Not to mention a further £13m for back-up left-back Kostas Tsimikas. Liverpool have managed to recoup some of that from Ki-Jana Hoever's move to Wolves but clearly need further player sales to balance their books.
Ideally Liverpool would have offloaded someone like Divock Origi but after failing to whip up any interest in the Belgium international they have been forced to sacrifice Brewster. It's a calculated gamble on their behalf. They have received a fantastic fee for someone that had never played in the Premier League and at this point was below both Roberto Firmino and Takumi Minamino in the pecking order. And if he does come good on his potential, Liverpool have the option to re-sign him over the next three years at the click of their fingers. If he doesn't, they have a 15pc sell-on fee.
But what can Sheffield United expect in return? Brewster proved he is a natural goalscorer right from the get go. He first made waves for England at the U17 World Cup three years ago, as England came from behind to beat Spain 5-2 in the final. The Three Lions were 2-0 down after 31 minutes only for Brewster to kickstart their comeback on the stroke of half-time. It marked his eighth goal of the tournament, enough to finish two clear of any other player. Brewster was a star performer for Steve Cooper's side, along with Manchester City's Phil Foden and Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi.
By the end of his time with England's U17s, Brewster had 20 goals in 25 caps. Liverpool had genuine high hopes for Brewster from that moment onwards, having snagged him from Chelsea's youth academy two years prior. After a few more years maturing, Brewster looked set for his big break for Liverpool at the start of last season only to fracture his foot in pre-season and miss the start of the campaign. By January and still without a real look-in, Liverpool decided Brewster would benefit from his first real taste of men's football out on loan in the Championship.
Swansea were willing recipients of the starlet and he helped keep the club on course for promotion to the Premier League. Swansea likely would have kept Brewster for another season if they managed to gain promotion but they fell at the play-off hurdle. Brewster finished his loan spell with Swansea with 11 goals in 22 appearances, including the play-offs, notably never going more than two games without scoring. In fact, from the moment Brewster made his Swansea debut, only Brentford star Said Benrahma (13) scored more times in the Championship.
Moreover, of players that attempted at least 30 shots in the Championship in that time, only one player had a better conversion rate than Brewster (20.4%). He hit the target with just less than half of his attempts (48.1%). What's perhaps most impressive about the youngster is that despite being considered a poacher of sorts, only two of his goals for Swansea were clear-cut chances. In otherwords, it doesn't matter if he missed so-called obvious opportunities as he is capable of scoring from a variety of positions. That is key for Sheffield United, who are still looking to score their first goal of the season.
After just three games, it's too early to tell whether Sheffield United will be in trouble this season but it is still obviously a gamble putting your faith in a relatively untested novice to end your woes in front of goal and fire you up the table. For neutrals, however, it will certainly be exciting to see how Brewster fares in the Premier League having so far only seen flashes of his potential.
