"It's so disappointing" - £23.5m transfer labelled as big Sheffield United error | OneFootball

Rhian Brewster has been declared as Sheffield United's most significant transfer disappointment

Highlights

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Rhian Brewster has been namechecked as Sheffield United's most disappointing transfer, having failed to deliver upon his early promise and the Blades' significant investment.

The Blades appear to have recruited excellently on a tighter budget across the summer transfer window, with the likes of Harrison Burrows, Kieffer Moore, Callum O'Hare and Sam McCallum - among others - all heading to Bramall Lane to inspire a potential return to the Premier League at the very first time of asking.

But United still find themselves paying the price for previous failings. In stark contrast to this summer, they have indeed made some rather costly transfer blunders in years gone by. Oli McBurnie and Lys Mousset both ultimately failed to justify their fees, while players like Ollie Burke and Callum Robinson arrived for less expenditure but hardly gave the club a solid return on the investment either.

No signing, however, feels more disappointing than Rhian Brewster, who arrived from Liverpool for a club-record fee of up to £23.5m and a five-year contract in 2020 but has endured a disastrous time of it in the Steel City.

For Football League World's resident Sheffield United fan pundit Jimmy, it is simply impossible to look past the ex-Liverpool hotshot as the club's most significant transfer flop.

"We got it massively wrong with Rhian Brewster, no doubt about it," Jimmy explained to Football League World.

"We left it until late in the transfer window, got desperate and then last minute went for an unproven Liverpool youngster because he had the pedigree at Liverpool and he'd had a decent season [on loan] at Swansea City, had been involved in the England youth set-up all his career.

"We ended up dropping between £18m-£24m on him. Unfortunately for him, great lad and certainly has talent, but he's never been able to get going due to his injury record and it's so disappointing."

Rhian Brewster may need Sheffield United exit to save career

Now aged 24, Brewster is approaching a critical juncture in his career. He's soon to hit what usually tends to be a prime age region for the majority of outfield players and he has a real decision to make.

In many regards, supporters are rightfully sympathetic towards Brewster, who has missed over 70 games for United through injury across his four full seasons with the club. They want him to succeed and that feeling will only ring true with Wilder too, who must surely hope to belatedly see some good on his investment after returning to the red half of Sheffield.

Whether Brewster has the opportunity to do that, though - or can seize it at all, for that matter - remains a different story. Following the arrivals of Moore and Tyrese Campebll, he very much appears to be Wilder's third-choice option and it is hard to see that changing anytime soon, given the duo have been in form much more recently than he has.

Despite the reasonable latitude in light of his injury history, Brewster's record is simply inexcusable for a striker - especially one who is clearly talented, as we saw in his days at Liverpool's academy and with Swansea in the Championship. One league goal in more than two years and just four in four years for the price United paid represents a really disappointing investment.

His contract is set to expire next summer and there is no good reason why, at this moment in time, United should even consider renewal for a player who has spent so much time out injured, has seldom delivered while on the pitch and is likely to be on a fairly-expensive deal, too.

Returning some sort of fee still represents a better alternative to almost inevitably losing him for nothing and it certainly is not in best interests of the player to stick around for another year, struggle to get a game and therefore fail to put himself in the shop window before entering the free agent market - where he could find it difficult to find a new club.

Perhaps that may also prove to be a potential challenge in the remainder of the window, but it simply does not feel like he is going to come good at the club.

All things considered, the transfer has been calamitous for all involved - barring Liverpool, of course, who did extremely well in hindsight to get that much for Brewster given how much he has gone on to struggle after leaving Merseyside.