Sheffield United star Rhian Brewster’s cousin, 17, suddenly collapsed and News Today died after ‘an innocuous tackle’ during a football match on Wednesday, his manager has revealed.

Brewster poignantly pointed to the sky after scoring last night in tribute to the teenager’s tragic death just hours before.

Kaylen Dennis, an under-23 player for Walthamstow Football Club from north London, passed away during a match at Barnet College on Wednesday afternoon.

The teenager – who some have described as having ‘unbelievable talent’ – was playing a scheduled college game shortly after 12pm when he went down on a tackle and stopped breathing.

Speaking to MailOnline, Jason Geraghty, manager of Walthamstow FC U-23s and a former professional who played for West Ham, said Kaylen was ‘like my own son’ and ‘an exceptional young man.’

He revealed he was still processing the shock of the youngster’s death, having been called yesterday by his close friend and News Today Kaylen’s father, Kevin, News Today who formerly played for News Today Arsenal. 

Mr Geraghty said: ‘Kaylen was playing at Barnet College on Wednesday – it was just an innocuous tackle and he went down.

We don’t know what happened. 

‘He had been a bit unwell for a few weeks, but was still able to play.

Football star Rhian Brewster’s cousin, 17, suddenly collapsed and died after ‘an innocuous tackle’ during a football match on Wednesday, his manager has revealed

Kaylen’s cousin – Sheffield United player Rhian Brewster – was spotted last night poignantly pointing to the sky during his match against Milwall

Kaylen is also a cousin of Spurs Women’s player Araya Dennis, who looked emotional after soring her first goal for the club last night against Crystal Palace

Araya (number 30) is congratulated by her team mates after the goal, which gave Spurs a 2-0 lead

‘I got a call from his dad just after 12pm that he had gone down on a tackle and was not breathing.