http://www.nottinghampost.com/fores...outh-cup-tie/story-30047977-detail/story.html
Forest striker Ben Brereton watched by Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and Man United in Youth Cup tie
Senior scouts from the Premier League's biggest clubs were at Nottingham Forest's FA Youth Cup tie at Stoke City with Ben Brereton the player they were most likely there to watch. Afterwards, Under-18s coach Gareth Holmes said the talented striker is on course for big things.
Arsenal sent ex-Reading boss Brian McDermott, while Liverpool dispatched former Nottingham Forest Academy director Nick Marshall.
Scouts from Chelsea, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham were also there, it is fair to suggest, with the name Ben Brereton at the top of their list to watch.
In fact staff from ten Premier League clubs were at the bet365 Stadium on Tuesday to watch Nottingham Forest take on Stoke in the FA Youth Cup fourth round, the others being Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Southampton and champions Leicester City.
Everton actually sent three people to the game and Arsenal two, while the England Under-18 head coach Neil Dewsnip and head of talent identification Richard Allen watched from the stands.
Brereton is hot property with United and
Liverpool expressing an interest in the 17-year-old striker, who has scored 15 goals in 20 Under-23 games this season.
On the face of it, the teenager was totally overshadowed in a battle of two highly rated strikers, with Stoke's
Tyrese Campbell, the son of former Reds striker Kevin Campbell, netting a hat-trick in a 4-1 win for the hosts.
Brereton was booked for diving and missed two chances, one of which was his own making, but tellingly he ran himself into the ground as a lone striker playing in a lost cause for the last 20 minutes, when Forest were out of the game and down to 10 men.
Tyrese Campbell (left) scored a hat-trick for Stoke
Afterwards, Forest Under-18s coach Gareth Holmes offered strong praise for Brereton, saying his style of play is increasingly rare, especially for someone who can back up his game with goals.
"Ben is tremendous. Look at his performance. He never wavered in his application," he told the Post.
"He is a striker who is very rare. He scores goals and is ruthless, but he has an empathy for the team.
"He wants to work for the team. In the national game right now that type of striker is rare.
"He's got a lot of work to do but he's getting there. He shows potential with his movement, with his intelligence, application and goals.
"He's ticking a lot of boxes. This defeat will disappoint him, but he'll play in bigger games than this."
Brereton is already talked of in the multi-million pound bracket even though he is yet to play for the first team.
He recently earned a new contract that is yet to be ratified by the authorities, although Forest see this as a formality.
That deal will only increase the value of a player the club see as having the potential to be better than
Oliver Burke, who was controversially sold to Red Bull Leipzig at the end of the last transfer window.
Offers are almost certain to come in for Brereton, meaning if John Jay Moores wants to keep one of the club's prized assets, he will have to
return to his baseball roots and bat away wealthy suitors, should his takeover go through as expected.
As Holmes says, Brereton will play in bigger games than Tuesday's, when scouts almost outnumbered fans. But where will he play them?
Holmes pauses slightly at the kind of question managers aren't a fan of.
'For Nottingham Forest first hopefully' is the reply. Let's hope he is right.
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