Premier League side Aston Villa have joined the heated race to secure the loan signing of Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster in January, according to the Daily Mirror.
The newspaper claims that Villans boss Dean Smith is targeting a swoop for the 19-year-old come the New Year, with Reds manager Jurgen Klopp keen for the youngster to get regular football.
Crystal Palace, who Liverpool beat 2-1 on Saturday, are also thought to be interested in Brewster, while Championship heavyweights Leeds United and Swansea City are both in the hunt as well.
Initially Klopp didn’t want the Englishman to go out on loan, but his stance has softened with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Divock Origi all ahead in the attacking pecking order.
OPINION
It’s no surprise that there is plentiful interest in Brewster. This is a young man who has been marked down for big success ever since he won the Golden Boot in England’s victorious Under-17s World Cup campaign in 2017. He’s now 19 years of age and on the fringes of the Liverpool squad, but he needs regular football if he is really to secure his potential. The problem is that he’s not going to get that at Anfield anytime soon with the aforementioned attackers ahead of him. However, he’d be a great option for Palace boss Roy Hodgson, who doesn’t really have a reliable striker. For Villa, he’d serve as a nice understudy to summer signing Wesley. However, surely a spell at one of the two Championship high-flyers is a better option. Going to Swansea, in particular, seems like a terrific move. Steve Cooper is a fantastic manager for young players, and he’s done great work with Newcastle United loanee Freddie Woodman this season. That seems like the ideal next step for Brewster, with regular Premier League football perhaps being too much too soon for him at the moment.
