Talking Tactics | Rhian Brewster

8th January
First team
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Swansea City clinched the loan signing of Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster on Tuesday, with the Champions League and World Cup Under-17s winner set to spend the rest of the season at the Liberty.

Here, football stats experts WhoScored go into detail on what the 19-year-old can bring to Steve Cooper's side.

Rhian Brewster

The chance for Rhian Brewster to develop under a manager familiar with his ability will work wonders for the young forward.

Back in 2017, England were crowned U17 World Cup champions as they trounced Spain 5-2 in Kolkata. England had to come from behind to secure victory, with Brewster kickstarting the comeback on the stroke of half-time with his eighth goal of the tournament. Those eight goals were enough for Brewster to secure the Golden Boot having scored two more than Lassana N'Diaye and Abel Ruiz, who were runners-up for the award.

Having left Chelsea for Liverpool at 14, Brewster has gone from strength-to-strength on Merseyside, with Jurgen Klopp a huge admirer of the youngster.

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Able to lead the line or play out wide, Brewster should slot seamlessly into Cooper's Swansea XI, with the 40-year-old favouring a 4-2-3-1 setup on the back of his summer appointment.

On the left flank, in particular, is where Cooper could use Brewster, with the Swans boss using no fewer than five different players on this side. Conversely, Andre Ayew, Swansea's highest-rated player with a WhoScored.com rating of 7.40, looks to have sewn up his starting spot on the right.

Even on the frontline, Brewster is a handy option for Cooper and having had the striker spearhead the attack at the U17 World Cup, it may be that the Swans boss does so again in the second half of the season, especially as Sam Surridge has returned to Bournemouth.

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Having been used as the lead frontman in EFL Cup meetings with MK Dons and Arsenal, Klopp would perhaps prefer to see Cooper use Brewster as the focal point in attack, but his versatility is a trait that the Swansea manager can utilise to great effect.

Either way, Brewster is an astute pick up for Swansea and a player who will bolster Cooper's attack as they push for a Premier League return.

Even if he is only at the Liberty Stadium for the remainder of the season, it could well be that the striker is the difference between promotion and another campaign in the Championship.