Rhian Brewster lifts lid on Sheffield United injury torment four years on from £23.5m move from Liverpool

Sheffield United recruited Brewster in October 2020, paying a reported £23.5m to prise the promising marksman from Liverpool.

He was the club’s marquee signing in a transfer window that extended into October due to the Covid-19 pandemic’s changes to the schedule.

Heralded as a coup, Brewster was widely expected to kick on at Bramall Lane after progressing quickly through the Liverpool and England age groups.

However, in the four years since his move to Yorkshire, Brewster has struggled to get going. Flashes of promise have been repeatedly been followed by injury and he has managed just five goals in 82 appearances for the Blades.

“I feel older than 24, trust me,” he told the i. “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.”

While Brewster is determined to put his injury hell in his rear view mirror, he has not shied away from discussing how tough he has found setbacks.

“It’s just so tough,” he said. The first hamstring injury happened at a time when I was playing well, but it happens. So you’re thinking ‘now I want to get back to where I was’, so you have a good mindset. But when it happens again, for a second time. It’s impossible not to just think ‘what is the point?’.

“You’re doing the same things in the gym that you were doing the first time, at the same points. You come in at different times to the rest, because the medical staff and physios need to work on the fit players. At times, I wasn’t even really seeing the players much. You’d come in when they’re at training, and then I’ll be up in the gym.”

Despite the separation created by injuries, Brewster has hailed his Sheffield United teammates for the way in which they have checked on his progress.

“You see them but you don’t see them,” he explained. “You can feel like you’re away from them for the most part. But the players were absolutely brilliant with me, though. As soon as they saw me they would ask how I was getting on and how I was doing in myself, making sure I was okay.”