Klopp Talk: Rhian Brewster’s Surprise Squad Inclusion

It has been a tough season for Rhian Brewster. The 19-year-old has spent the last year and a half sidelined because of injury (though, there could be worse ways to recover than to do so next to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain). However, throughout his recovery, one thing was clear from Jurgen Klopp: he wanted Brewster in and around the first team when he did recover.

Klopp and the club were so convinced by Brewster’s talent, that they fought tooth and nail to prevent him from going to get first team minutes in Germany.

Unfortunately, Brewster’s recovery took far longer than many hoped. Regardless, he’s been training well with the U23s, and Kloppo decided to reward the youngster with a trip to Barcelona.

“He is the next really exciting prospect,” Klopp told the club’s official website. “If you see him training… next season will be his season, his first real season.

“He is now physically an adult, he grew a lot, he worked a lot and the training session today was, to be honest, pretty impressive.

“He is with us, he is our player and we want to have him around. In this case I thought, ‘Come on, it’s Barcelona, let’s give him a first sniff.’”

As much as Klopp comes off as the affable, sentimental type, there’s no way the German manager would bring Brewster along if he didn’t earn it in training. It’s highly unlikely we’ll see Brewster feature in this tie (or any other meaningful minutes between now and the end of the season), but I’m sure it’s a nice reward for the player after such a tumultuous season.

And if Brewster is as good as Klopp & Co. think he is, I’m already looking forward to next season.