How Klopp managed to persuade Brewster to stay at Liverpool

Rhian Brewster has explained why he considered leaving Liverpool ” a couple of years ago”.

Brewster is likely to play a key role in Liverpool’s first team after making his case in pre-season.

Jurgen Klopp deems the U17 World Cup winner a “top talent” capable of complementing the club’s existing attacking options.

The 19-year-old is a Firmino-in-waiting at Anfield and has finally outlasted Daniel Sturridge, Dominic Solanke and Danny Ings to carve out a role for himself in the squad.

Klopp managed to persuade Brewster to stay amid speculation linking him with a move to the Bundesliga.

“I was a Chelsea fan, joined them when I was six and was with them until 14, but I never saw a pathway to the first team,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“There were a lot of players in my position, older than me not getting a chance. I was thinking, ‘do I want to be there and be a number or do I want to play first-team football?’

“Quite a few teams came in for me at the time and I thought Liverpool the best option. I knew Michael Beale, who had moved to Liverpool from Chelsea, and had a few conversations and felt like Liverpool was a club that would give young players a chance.

“A couple of years ago I was looking at the pathway into the Liverpool team and I thinking, ‘it is just going to be the same here as it was at Chelsea’. At the time there was Dom Solanke, Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi and Danny Ings still here, all ahead of me. I was never thinking about getting more money, just realistically assessing the situation.

“You have the front three and then five or six senior strikers ahead of you so I thought a lot about it and spoke to my family and Leon [Anderson] my agent.

“Then things changed a bit. When I spoke to the manager he said, ‘You are going to be a top striker at this club. Not next season, but the season after you will be in my plans’. Then a few strikers moved out on loan.

“The manager kept that promise. I knew he was not chatting rubbish to me. That is why I chose to stay with the club because they showed the faith in me and believed in me. Now I am going to get the chance, it really is up to me to take it.

“When I look at where I am now I feel I made the right choice. Jurgen Klopp gives kids a chance.”