Sheffield United striker reveals the extraordinary lengths he has been going to in order to try and gun down his old club Chelsea

The centre-forward became the most expensive purchase in United’s history when he joined Chris Wilder’s side from Liverpool last month, commanding a £23.5m fee after leaving Anfield.

Although his former manager Jurgen Klopp is convinced Brewster will reach the pinnacle of the game, United’s Chris Wilder acknowledged a “stop start” pre-season meant the 20-year-old was not in peak condition when he arrived at Bramall Lane.

Despite making three appearances since, including one against his old club, Brewster asked Wilder for permission to take part in additional sessions behind the scenes in order to get himself into shape as quickly as possible.

“I wanted to try and get as fit as possible,and that has been why it’s been decided to stay behind and work really hard to put myself in the best possible place to be right for the games coming up,” Brewster said. “We have some big and important games coming up.”

Capped eight times by England at under-21 level, Brewster elected to miss his country’s most recent round of European Championship qualifiers in order to focus on settling into life with United following five seasons in the North-West. Although he enters this weekend’s match at Chelsea searching for his first goal in United colours, Brewster used his experience during a spell on loan with Swansea City last term to explain why he is confident of getting off the mark soon.

“Towards the end of the season there, there was a change of shape to something similar to what is played here,” Brewster, who actually started his career at Stamford Bridge, explained. “I scored quite a few goals after that and there’s similarities between the two clubs.”

“I know when the team is right at it, that chances will be created,” Brewster, speaking to United’s in-house media channel, continued. “Then it’s up to me to be in the right place at the right time and take advantage. I’m looking forward to building some partnerships here, I really wanted to come.”