Young Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster is on loan at Championship side Swansea, and has bagged three goals in his first seven appearances for the Welsh club.
With these sort of deals, the parent club will often make sure their prospects are getting enough game-time – and will insert an obligation in the paperwork so they know their players will continue to develop.
You’d probably imagine this is the case with Brewster at Swansea, but coach Steve Cooper has denied it and goes on to say that there are no loanees in his team that are obliged to playing.
“We have a few loan players here, that would not be right for the football club to do that,” Cooper said when asked about whether he faces contractual pressures to field his loan players (as per the Liverpool Echo).
“With the young players, it is up and down. They can have a really good game and make a mistake that can cost a goal or miss a chance, and that can be the narrative.
“But my aim is to keep working day in day out with the players and give them the best programme we can possible with the idea of continuing to improve while performing well in games so we can win games. That won’t change.”
Brewster has been sent to the Championship outfit to get more game-time, but if he is playing then it’s down to how well he is performing and Cooper’s discretion. At Liverpool, there is no chance he’d have made seven senior appearances since January.
Swansea are up against Huddersfield Town this afternoon, and it could be another chance for Brewster to keep up his impressive goal-scoring record in the Championship.
The 11th-placed Swans are going through a tough patch at the minute, with just three points being picked up in their last five games. They were seeking promotion earlier in the season, but it’s now starting to look as if they’ll have to settle for a mid-table finish, unless they have a serious turnaround in form.