Ex-swan can be a blueprint
For Rhian
FORMER Swansea City star Rhian Brewster turned 21 this week, but the striker has had little to celebrate of late, leaving a lot of fans wondering “what if?”
During his brief loan spell last season the youngster scored 10 goals in 20 matches, giving him one of the Championship’s best goals per game ratios and firing Swansea to an unlikely sixth place finish.
Brewster was a big-game player at Swansea, able to find the net in high-pressure matches and scoring goals of all shapes and sizes.
His performances unsurprisingly drew the attention of others and he was soon the subject of substantial transfer speculation. Last summer saw a constant stream of stories asking if Brewster would fight for his place at Liverpool’s or move on? If he decided to quit Anfield, which of the multitude of Premier League clubs chasing his signature would land the talented forward?
Despite Swansea expressing an interest in bringing Brewster back to the Liberty Stadium, it never seemed likely with so much top-flight interest.
The saga dragged on for quite some time, but Sheffield United eventually won the race.
A fee of around £23.5 million was agreed, making Brewster the Yorkshire side’s record signing. The huge price-tag put instant pressure on the striker to deliver but on the face of it, this seemed like a good move.
The Blades had finished the previous season in ninth, but barely averaged a goal per game and only four teams in the entire division had scored fewer than them. They had plenty of strikers, including former Swan Oli Mcburnie, but none of them had been prolific in their first season back in the top flight, so Brewster was meant to address an obvious weakness in the side.
Having excelled in the Championship, there was reason to believe the move to the Steel City could be a good one for both the player and the club, but it certainly hasn’t worked out that way. In truth, Brewster’s nightmare season began even before his big-money transfer as he missed a decisive penalty for Liverpool in the Community Shield shoot-out.
Sheffield United had already lost their first four games of the season by the time he made his debut and even though Brewster played reasonably well in the 1-1 against relegation favourites Fulham, the result was both disappointing and foreboding in its nature.
Their dreadful form continued as they went 17 games without a win, the longest winless start in Premier League history. This certainly didn’t help Brewster settle, but likewise, he could not provide the cutting edge which could have made the difference in some of these defeats.
Brewster has now played 23 games for the Blades without getting on the score sheet. He has gone close a few times, but that long-overdue first goal remains elusive.
After such a nightmare season for his club, he probably looked forward to this international break and a chance to regain his scoring touch with the England under-21 side.
That also turned into a bit of a disaster. England bombed out of the European Championships at the group stage with just one win from their three games. Brewster did not start any matches and failed to score.
Brewster has played more than 1,000 minutes of competitive football since scoring for Swansea in last season’s play-off semi-final against Brentford. Nobody could have predicted that his well-measured lob at Griffin Park would be his last strike for more than eight
months. While Brewster’s been struggling at Sheffield United, Swansea have had a very good season in the Championship, albeit without a natural goalscorer up front.
The Swans have done very well to stick in the automatic promotion hunt considering their difficulties in attack. Many fans have bemoaned this situation, wondering how different things could have been if a former favourite had returned for another season.
Statements such as “Swansea would run away with this league if we had Rhian Brewster” have been uttered countless times.
I disagree with this idea that Brewster would have solved all Swansea’s problems, but he would have certainly given them an extra threat.
Had Brewster spent this season in South Wales rather than South Yorkshire, he would have definitely avoided the drought he is currently enduring and would probably be enjoying his football a lot more.
It’s easy to ask “what if”, but that kind of question ignores the realities of last summer.
He took the Championship by storm in the second half of last season and as a young loanee his performances were too good for him to return to the second tier. Everything about his displays suggested he was ready for the step up and when the big money bids started rolling in, Liverpool were never likely to turn them down for him to go back on loan to Swansea.
It goes without saying that Swansea were in absolutely no position to compete financially with the likes of Sheffield United.
The natural and pretty much the only possible next step for Brewster after his success at Swansea was to have a go at the Premier League. Fans can debate all they like about what would have been best for Brewster’s
progression and longterm prospects, but the reality of football meant Swansea wasn’t really a viable option.
Sadly for Brewster, the move to Sheffield United was clearly the wrong one and he has taken a backwards step in his development which means he is likely to be back in the Championship next season. He will now be part of a rebuilding job at Bramall Lane and that will be a new test of character for him.
These days football fans seem very keen to write off youngsters as soon as they experience their first setback. That was the case with another former Swansea loanee who should act as an inspiration for Brewster.
Tammy Abraham was just 19 when he arrived at then Premier League side Swansea on the back of a stunning Championship campaign with Bristol City. It was a bad move for him because Swansea, much like this year’s Blades, were set for a stinker of a season.
He received very little service, his early-season spirit was crushed and his development eventually suffered at the Liberty to the point where no other Premier League team was ready to take a risk with him and his next opportunity came at Championship Aston Villa.
Abraham excelled in the Championship where he rediscovered his confidence and scoring touch, firing Villa back into the top flight before going on to succeed with both Chelsea and England.
Swansea was the wrong club for the young Abraham and Sheffield United this year has been the wrong club for Brewster, but one bad season does not end a career. Brewster will have to take that backwards step to move forward again, but Swansea fans know how talented he really is and we know what he is capable of eventually achieving.