Aitor Karanka says he may look to send Ben Brereton out on loan before the end of the month.
The teenager was reportedly subject of a £5m bid from Blackburn Rovers prior to the permanent transfer window closing on Thursday evening. Our manager is adamant the club are not considering selling the 19-year-old:
“No, we are not in a rush to sell him. I like the player, I like his character and he has a bright future in front of him.”
However, a loan switch is not out of the question before the deadline in two weeks’ time:
“I do not know about sending him out on loan. We need to keep calm, we need to organise again and think about things. We have more than two weeks of the loan window left.”
With both Lewis Grabban and Daryl Murphy currently ahead of him in the pecking order, Brereton’s first-team opportunities are likely to be very limited if he doesn’t go out on loan.
The forward may get his first chance of action this season against Bury tomorrow night with Karanka expected to make a whole host of changes for the Carabao Cup first round tie.
However, after having played 39 times in all competitions last campaign, he’s very unlikely to get even half that number due to the depth of the squad at the manager’s disposal. Should we send Brereton out on loan? Let me know in the poll:
