Teenager Brewster ready to sign long-term Liverpool deal
Striker expected to seal contract until 2023 soon Klopp played key role in persuading him to stay
Liverpool have agreed a professional contract with their teenage sensation Rhian Brewster, ending fears the England youth international could quit Anfield.
Manager Jurgen Klopp and sporting director Michael Edwards have been in constant negotiations with Brewster and his representative to secure the 18-year-old on what is understood to be a five-year contract, retaining him until 2023.
The striker’s ambition had opened up the possibility of him moving elsewhere, seeking guarantees of a more rapid promotion to first-team football.
But Klopp and Edwards sought to reassure him the pathway to the Liverpool starting line-up was there should potential be fulfilled.
Brewster will be part of the senior squad when they return to pre-season training and he will put pen to paper on the long-term contract in the coming days.
For all the business Liverpool have done and may yet do this summer, tying down Brewster may prove one of the most significant.
He was the star of last season’s Under-17 World Cup, winning the Golden Boot, as England were crowned champions. He is regarded as one of the most exciting players of his age in world football.
Liverpool were concerned about losing Brewster at one point at the end of last season – he has been on a scholarship deal, despite being eligible for a professional contract since turning 18 in April. Clubs in Germany circled, offering a route to top-level football in the Bundesliga.
Liverpool threatened Borussia Monchengladbach with a report to Fifa for an illegal approach, and relations were soured to the extent of a pre-season friendly between the clubs being cancelled.
Now Brewster can expect to make his senior debut in a Liverpool jersey in the future. He might have featured in the Premier League but for an ankle injury towards the end of last season. That may curtail how soon he can start his pre-season, but he should be fit to tour the United States next month.
The determination and influence of Klopp in convincing Brewster to remain cannot be underestimated.
Liverpool were in a strong position to argue there is no manager in the Premier League more determined to give his academy players a chance. At the end of last season, Klopp asked Brewster to attend the Football Writers’ Association player-of-the-year dinner so a tribute could be paid to him for publicly expressing his despair with Uefa and Fifa’s lame efforts to combat on-field racist abuse.