Rhian Brewster opens up on future hope after Sheffield United career hampered by injury frustration

His Sheffield United career so far has been severely hampered by a succession of unfortunate and untimely injuries but there is still a lot of goodwill and sympathy for Rhian Brewster at Bramall Lane. Not that he courts it, or would even particularly want it - he wants to be back doing what he loves. Scoring goals.

But there has to be a bit of patience and, above all, a lot of good fortune; something that has eluded him since his big-money move from Liverpool back in 2020. A tally of 30 league starts in that time, and four league goals, tells one story but the context quite another. It has been a familiar and frustrating story - injury blow followed by an impressive-looking return followed by injury blow.

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The cycle has to end at some point and Brewster’s initial contract is up at the end of the end of this season. He has been used sparingly so far this term as United’s coaching staff treat him with caution, and there is confidence that he will play a part over a 46-game Championship campaign. The man himself, still only 24, is determined to make up for lost time.

“I hope that I deserve a bit of luck,” said Brewster recently, in an interview with the i. “I’ve had my fair share of bad times. I have done everything to make that luck: training right, eating right, recovering right, sleeping right. I’m going to do whatever I possibly can to not get injured. I feel older than 24, trust me.

“I’ve been through stuff that most 24-year-olds probably wouldn’t go through, and everything is in the public eye. But it is what it is and this is the life that I chose. The best feeling in the world is when I’m playing and I’m running, full speed, and I don’t think about it for a second. I’m just running. Trust me, I still have that. Ultimately, that’s all I want and all I’ve ever wanted. Fingers crossed I’ve still got years of that to come.”

Although Brewster’s transfer fee when he arrived from Liverpool - which United themselves billed as a record signing and which could have risen as high as £23.5m but has not done so - is often used by the striker’s critics as a stick with which to beat him, the all-round financials of the deal suited where United were as a football club at the time. Back then Brewster was one of the highest-rated young forwards in the country, loved by Jurgen Klopp to the extent that Liverpool insisted on a buy-back clause before they sanctioned the deal.

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“A lot will always be looked at with the players you sign for money,” boss Chris Wilder admitted. “There's some criticism of our recruitment through the period and you don't always get every single one right. But the players sometimes are a bit unfortunate.

“The big one that everyone talks about is Rhian, but I think he's been very unfortunate. But the deal at the time, with where he was and what we needed and the numbers, were really favourable. But I understand there'll be opinion and criticism. I think overall, though, the work that's been done over that period of time has been positive.”