CHELSEA star Reece James has opened up on his friendship with Sheffield United forward Rhian Brewster.
The duo played together in West London between the ages of eight and 14, developing a strong bond as kids.
Brewster left Cobham for Liverpool in 2015, as his dad felt he had a better chance of breaking through at Anfield.
And now, following the striker’s move to the Blades, the pair are getting to face each other at the elite level.
Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, James lifted the lid on the pals’ relationship.
The 20-year-old said: “I know Rhian Brewster well. We still talk, but obviously not as regularly as if he was still in the same changing room.
“He was a bit of a different player back then, he was tiny! Now he’s massive, but when he was in the academy here he was so small, and very fast.
“When I was that young I was an attacker as well, so I never really played against him, I was playing with him in attack.
“I don’t remember who scored the most goals, though!”
As it happened, neither were included in their respective sides’ starting XIs for the FA Cup tie at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
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James entered the action in place of Olivier Giroud after 63 minutes.
While Brewster, 20, replaced Oliver Norwood 16 minutes later.
Both came on with Chelsea leading 1-0, thanks to Norwood’s unfortunate second-half own goal.
And Hakim Ziyech’s stoppage time strike sealed Chelsea’s 2-0 progression to the semi-finals.
The match was already James’ 68th first-team appearance for the Blues, having become a regular under Frank Lampard, following a year on loan at Wigan.
Brewster, meanwhile, made four first team outings for Liverpool, before joining Sheffield United for £23.5million in October.
The England youth ace is yet to score in 23 appearances for the sorry Blades.
But he did manage 11 goals in 22 games during an outstanding loan spell with Swansea City last term.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
