Liverpool v Sheffield United - How Blades record signing Rhian Brewster has made a good impression on Chris Wilder

The club record £23.5m signing makes his return to Anfield tomorrow, just 22 days after heading to South Yorkshire.

Following his debut from the bench last Sunday, Brewster is pushing for his first start, with the striker at the ‘forefront’ of Wilder’s thinking.

The Blades chief described Brewster as “one of the country’s hottest properties” after sealing his transfer and insists he has the mentality to match as he seeks to prove himself in the Premier League at the age of 20 – after refusing the easy option of being a squad player on Merseyside.

He remains a player who Liverpool firmly rate; so much so that they inserted a three-year buy-back option into the deal and 15 per cent sell-on clause.

On Brewster, who took the decision to move to Swansea City on loan for the second half of last season, Wilder said: “It needs to be applauded and recognised.

“I spoke about ‘toilet-bag footballers’ last week. You are not looking in that toilet bag and seeing there is two, three or 400 league appearances.

“You are looking in and there’s some aftershave worth about four-hundred quid, deodorant and teeth-whitening toothpaste... Rhian wants to put two, three and four hundred Premier League appearances in.

“He wanted to go out and play football at Swansea. It is not just him, but the (other) young boys who have moved abroad. They have taken ownership of their careers, but some don’t and allow other people to.

“Rhian has and it speaks volumes about his mentality and what he wants to do and not what others want him to do.”

Without a win this season, the Blades could find themselves bottom of the table by the time they step out at Anfield on Saturday evening.

Despite their difficult start to the campaign – exacerbated by injuries to the likes of Jack O’Connell and John Fleck – Wilder has scoffed at suggestions that his side have been ‘found out’ from a tactical perspective.

Much was made in 2019-20 about the Blades successfully using overlapping outside centre-backs to create overloads in wide areas – a tactic employed throughout Wilder’s tenure.

Plenty of talk is now centring on rivals negating United’s strength. For his part, Wilder says his players just need to start playing the system better.

He added: “You can talk about systems all day long and I know there will be a debate about systems and about getting sussed and stuff like that. I think that is quite easy to say as well.

“It does bring a little bit of a smile to my face when pundits talk about systems and other people do quite blandly without coming up with why we have been sussed and what are the reasons we have been found out. I certainly don’t believe it is true.

“I used to love listening to Chris Waddle on (Radio) 5 Live as he would identity a problem and say to the listeners what it was and how to effect it.

“My opinion on the system is that it is okay and the players have just got to play better in the system and if they do that, they give themselves a better opportunity of producing a performance and result.”

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Thank you, James Mitchinson. Editor.