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Wijnaldum 'not impressed' by Brewster despite Liverpool starlet's 'unbelievable' finishing ability
The Dutchman has not been surprised by the young striker's impressive pre-season form, having been aware of his "quality" for quite some time
Georginio Wijnaldum has described Rhian Brewster's finishing ability as "unbelievable", but insists he is "not impressed" by the Liverpool starlet's recent flurry of goals.
Brewster netted both of Liverpool's goals in a 2-2 draw with Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday after coming on as a second-half substitute.
The 20-year-old has now hit three goals in two pre-season appearances, having also found the net in a 3-0 win over Stuttgart at the weekend.
Jurgen Klopp has welcomed the England U21 international back into his squad following a successful spell at Swansea last season, during which the youngster hit 11 goals in 22 appearances.
Wijnaldum has worked closely alongside Brewster at Anfield over the past three years, and has not been surprised to see him stake a strong claim for a regular spot in the first team ahead of the 2020-21 campaign.
Asked to assess the forward's recent performances, the Dutch midfielder told Liverpool's official website: “I’m not ‘impressed’, because I know already which kind of quality he has.
“We trained together for a few years and he showed also in training that his finishing is unbelievable, so I’m not really impressed!”
The Reds battled back from two goals down against Salzburg in Austria, with James Milner, Takumi Minamino and Curtis Jones all introduced to the action after the interval.
The likes of Ki-Jana Hoever, Marko Grujic and Harvey Elliott were also given run-outs in the second 45, and Wijnaldum talked up the importance of squad depth after the final whistle.
"That’s how it should be. Now we have the fixtures we all know it’s going to be a really difficult season with a lot of games, so a lot of players will play a lot of games," he said.
“So if you have a lot of players who can bring quality to the pitch, it makes it even better for the team. We are really happy that the guys who came in, the young players, made the difference today.”
Liverpool will now look ahead to a Community Shield final meeting with Arsenal on Saturday, and Wijnaldum is happy with how preparations have unfolded during their latest training camp.
The Reds playmaker added: "I think every training camp is a good one, I think especially now because we only had a little bit more than two weeks to prepare for the Community Shield.
“It is always good if you have good preparation in pre-season because this is basically the pre-season for the start of the season.
"It went quite well, we had to deal with some circumstances but also that we did good, so it was a good training camp.”
