Who is Brooks Lennon, RSL-AZ grad and Liverpool youngster?

With news today dropping that Real Salt Lake might just be interested in one Brooks Lennon, Liverpool starlet and RSL academy graduate, we’re taking a closer look at who he is and whether the move could actually happen.

So... who is Brooks Lennon?

Thanks for getting us started. Brooks Lennon, 19 (born in 1997, in case you want to feel old), is a forward who currently plays for Liverpool’s Under-23 side. He’s from the great state of Arizona — Paradise Valley, to be precise, which seems to be one of the many suburbs of Phoenix.

He was really, really good for the academy, and he was constantly getting attention from Liverpool. They wanted him, and they made that perfectly clear. They eventually

What’s his playing style?

He’s a forward with some great goalscoring ability — but let’s let him take it from here.

I feel my attributes are breaking the lines and running in behind the defence and scoring goals. I'm good in front of goal and I just need to keep working on different parts of my game that need to be fixed. Hopefully I can do that on the training pitch.

Wait, he wants to come here?

I mean, that’s the rumor, at least. Is it true? There’s a big question mark there, because frankly, we don’t know how accurate this is. But Salt Lake Tribune reporter Chris Kamrani doesn’t just write any old rumor — he typically has a focus on accuracy and confirmed sources. Knowing that this comes from a league source does boost our cause to believe this.

Why would he want to?

If I knew that, I’d probably be really good at making loads of money or something. I’m not. All I know is that this rumor seems to have come out of nowhere. And I’m not exaggerating — this was a 4 p.m. rumor, and it came literally one day after Lennon scored twice for Liverpool’s U-23s.

We do know that it’s not unusual to see a fair amount of turnover at youth academies, and maybe there’s something to that. If Liverpool are set to bring in some reinforcements, maybe there’s a chance Lennon would be edged out. Maybe there’s a chance that Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp and company don’t think he’s Premier League-ready, and that he’s not going to develop properly in a reserves capacity, where results don’t matter in the same way. Maybe he was set for a loan to a lower division side, and this move is simply a better idea for him? We’re grasping at straws here, people.

Maybe Lennon’s unhappy, or there are family issues, or he just got a really good offer. We don’t really know this one, and we can’t really know it. At least not now.

Why would RSL want him?

Well, it’s simple. He’s a great player, and he came from our academy. We have his MLS rights. If we can bring him in long-term, that’s a real coup for us. If we bring him in short-term, he could fill a role as that backup central striker behind Yura Movsisyan. Surely, Lennon wouldn’t be a starter from the outset in that capacity, but he could be a player that comes in off the bench and makes a difference.

Simply put, if we have an opportunity to bring him in, it’s worth whatever you have to spend.