Former Sheffield United midfielder, Michael Brown, thinks Liverpool may have been “forced” to sell Rhian Brewster.
Brewster joined the Blades in a club record £23.5m deal from Anfield on October 2.
The striker is clearly still highly rated by the Reds, though, as BBC Sport reports they have included a buy-back option for the next three years. They are also entitled to 15 percent of any future sell-on fee.
Brown thinks the Premier League champions would have preferred not to lose Brewster permanently, however.
“I don’t think Liverpool will have wanted to do a permanent deal. They may have been forced a little. But the bid is so good and the player wants to get playing so it probably suits all round,” the ex-Blade told Football Insider.
“He would probably have had limited opportunities at Liverpool.”
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While Liverpool clearly admire Brewster and have kept the door open for a return to Merseyside, to say they were “forced” into the transfer is perhaps stretching the point slightly.
The 20-year-old has only played four times for the club and was unlikely to get many more opportunities this season. The Reds already have a number of attacking options at their disposal – increased by the recent arrival of Diogo Jota.
Manager Jurgen Klopp explained why Brewster was allowed to leave following his move to Bramall Lane.
“He couldn’t make it here so far but he has made big steps in his development,” Klopp was quoted by Talksport.
“If Rhian would be now 25, 26 I would say; ‘OK, you can stay and work for your chance and then don’t say I didn’t say you couldn’t stay’.
“But it is a different situation when you are younger. (It is important]) a player like Rhian in this position up front makes now the next steps and uses the time he lost during the serious injury – so it is possible a move to another club would make sense.”
Brewster made his comeback from a knee injury last term while on loan at Swansea City. The England nUnder-21 international scored 11 goals in 22 games to fire the Swans to the Championship playoffs.
Unfortunately for United, Brewster wasn’t registered in time to make his debut against Arsenal on Sunday. However, Chris Wilder has confirmed that the youngster will play some part against Fulham on October 17 in the first game back after the international break.