Rhian Brewster Likely out for Rest of the Season

Liverpool U23 and England U17 star Rhian Brewster is looking at a premature end to the season after he injured his ankle ligament during Liverpool U23’s game against Manchester City U23 two weeks ago. The player still has to hear from specialists on whether the damage will require surgery, but both he and the team have resigned themselves to a recovery that will take months rather than weeks.

“He’s going to be out for a significant period of time whatever happens,” U23s coach Neil Critchley said when he spoke about the player’s condition. “We’re just waiting on the specialist to say: ‘Yeah, we think it’s better to have surgery or no he doesn’t (need it)’.”

The team is also keen on allowing Brewster to take his time returning to training and regular play to make sure he has enough time to recover, as his long-term fitness is the highest priority.

“We’re looking at months,” Critchley added. “I think it’s a similar type injury to what Ovie (Ejaria) had last season when he was out for a few months. It’s going to be months rather weeks, I would have thought.”

“I wouldn’t want to say it’s ‘season over’, but you’re talking months, you’re talking at least two months, so there’s the end of March. We finish at the end of April, early May. So it’s not going to give him any real time. I don’t think we should rush him back either.

“What’s more important now for Rhian is we do the right thing by him and he comes back in a fit, stable condition and hopefully stronger than when he was playing for us.”