Any legs to this one in The Athletic?
"Swansea City are leading the race to sign Rhian Brewster after making a formal approach to Liverpool to take the 19-year-old striker on loan for the remainder of the season and offering him the opportunity of regular football at Championship level.
Although Jurgen Klopp was against the idea of Brewster going out on loan in the summer, the Liverpool manager is willing to allow the teenager to pick up some valuable first-team experience elsewhere during the second half of the campaign, mindful that he has made only two appearances this season.
Sources at Liverpool and Swansea have confirmed to The Athletic that the two clubs have held talks about a loan deal for Brewster but insist nothing has been decided yet. Swansea are hopeful they will be given the green light but also aware that other Championship clubs are keen to sign Brewster, including Preston North End.
Either way, it is understood that Liverpool would prefer for any loan agreement to start after their third-round FA Cup tie against Everton at Anfield on Sunday, when Klopp is expected to make a number of changes on the back of a gruelling schedule.
The Merseyside derby will be Liverpool’s seventh game in 19 days and it possible Brewster could feature. Beyond that, however, it is hard to see the former Chelsea youngster getting much game-time when Klopp has other attacking options on the bench.
Swansea are an attractive proposition for Brewster for a couple of reasons, the first being that he will have the opportunity to play frequently for the Championship club, who are expected to offload Borja Baston, another centre forward, during the January window. That would leave Sam Surridge, a loan signing from Bournemouth, as Swansea’s only other out-and-out striker.
Arguably a bigger factor, though, is that Brewster would be reunited with Steve Cooper. The Swansea manager was the England Under-17 coach when Brewster helped his country to World Cup success in 2017 in India, where he played alongside Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi and scored eight goals to win the golden boot.
Brewster’s progress then stalled after he suffered a serious ankle injury in January 2018 which sidelined him for more than a year. During that period out, Brewster signed a five-year contract with Liverpool amid interest from several Bundesliga clubs.
After being named among the substitutes for last season’s Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur, he eventually made his debut in September, when Liverpool beat MK Dons in the Carabao Cup. Brewster’s only appearance since was in the same competition in the 5-5 draw with Arsenal in October that Liverpool went onto win on penalties."