Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has hailed the Whites’ rumoured January target Rhian Brewster as the ‘perfect’ signing.

According to the Mirror, Leeds United are one of a handful of clubs looking into the signing of Liverpool starlet Rhian Brewster, with Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Swansea all reportedly interested too.

Leeds would be looking to bring the England under-21 international in on-loan for the rest of the season, in the hope that he can help fire Leeds to a long-awaited promotion back to the Premier League. The Whites currently already have a top-six hot prospect in their ranks with Arsenal’s Eddie Nketiah, who joined the club on a season-long loan in the summer. 

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has reportedly sanctioned the loan of Brewster in the hope of his development speeding up with regular first-team action away from Anfield for the rest of the season. The Reds currently have an embarrassment of riches in the striker department, with very little chance to make an impact for Brewster, thanks to the red-hot form of Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

Former Leeds striker Whelan has recently spoken to Football Insider about the potential chance of Leeds securing the Liverpool teenager on-loan, he stated: “I’d love him at Leeds. He is young, hungry, exciting, well spoken about by Jurgen Klopp.

“If we could pull that deal out of the bag in January, wow, perfect. It would be a great deal for us. He would offer something a bit different to what we’ve already got.

“We need strength in depth up front. Two senior strikers, Patrick Bamford and Eddie Nketiah, is not enough for a Championship campaign.

“If we can get someone like Rhian Brewster, that would give us three proper centre-forwards who can be rotated as and when needed. You need three strikers in case of injuries and suspensions if you’re going for promotion.”

The Verdict

It is yet to be seen whether this interest in Brewster is genuine at Elland Road, but there is no doubt that Whelan is right in saying that it would be a very strong statement to the rest of the division to sign him on-loan.

It is hard to say whether he would be a regular fixture in Bielsa’s side with Nketiah already struggling to nail a place down, but it would still add very good depth to a side that has lacked that since the Argentine’s arrival in West Yorkshire.