Liverpool are weighing up whether to report Borussia Monchengladbach for an illegal approach to their 18-year-old striker Rhian Brewster, who now looks certain to join the Bundesliga club at the end of the season.

Brewster, an England Under-17 World Cup winner, has never signed a professional deal at Liverpool but the club have triggered the third year of his scholarship deal which means that he is not currently allowed to speak to other clubs even outside the Premier League. There has also been great interest from Red Bull Leipzig and Liverpool are closely monitoring that situation.

Brewster is held in great regard at Liverpool and is a well-liked member of the first team and Under-23s squad, currently recovering from injury.

He was praised extensively by Jurgen Klopp in his Football Writers’ Association speech in honour of footballer of the year Mohamed Salah, at the ceremony on Thursday night, for the teenager’s stance against the racist abuse he received playing for club and country.

There is also sympathy for those Liverpool youngsters who find themselves up against such formidable competition to break into the first team and acknowledgment that playing in Germany is a much more navigable path to first team action. However, Liverpool will act to protect their own interests this summer when he leaves the club with a clear idea that Brewster has been approached.