Brentford’s £30 million signing Igor Thiago endured a nightmare debut season. But the striker, who overcame personal hardship growing up in Brazil, vowed to bounce back – and he’s delivering in style. Thiago is sitting second in the Premier League scoring charts behind Erling Haaland. With fans chanting his name and a possible World Cup on the horizon, Stuart Hughes chronicles the 24-year-old’s sensational season so far.
It was the worst possible start.
Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues set a new club record when he joined Brentford in July 2024 for £30 million. Signed as a possible replacement for the outgoing Ivan Toney, the Brazilian had huge boots to fill.
He came to West London on the back of stand-out season with Club Brugge in Belgium.
Then came our pre-season friendly against AFC Wimbledon.
He announced his arrival by scoring twice in a 5-2 victory at the Cherry Red Records Stadium but suffered a meniscus tear to his knee in the process.
After missing the first three months of last season, he managed one start and three appearances as a substitute.
But more frustration was to come.
Just before Christmas, he contracted a joint infection. The chances of that happening were small. The length of the recovery time was uncertain.
Despite arriving with such high hopes, Igor Thiago managed just 8 Premier League appearances during the 2024-2025 season, totalling fewer than 3 hours on the pitch and failing to find the net once.
But the man from Gama, near Brasilia, was no stranger to overcoming adversity.
After losing his father at 13, he worked a variety of jobs – as a bricklayer, in a supermarket, and carrying fruit in local fairs – to earn money to support his mother Maria, a rubbish collector.
“It helped me as a man, and it helped me as person,” he explained to the official Brentford website.
“It helped me to appreciate the little and big things in life.”
After a season spent largely on the sidelines, Thiago began our 2025-2026 campaign in a positive frame of mind.
“I’ve never felt better,” he said in July.
“I’m feeling very good, very strong, very different to how I felt last year.
“The main thing is that I want to be in the best possible form, the best possible shape to do what Brentford hired me to do – and that’s score goals.”
He did just that 18 minutes into Keith Andrews’ first game in charge, in Brentford’s pre-season friendly against Portugal’s Gil Vicente.
Our opening match of the Premier League season may have been a disappointing 3-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest. but Thiago announced his return at the City Ground with a penalty after 78 minutes – his first goal in the top flight.
He followed up with goals against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup and Sunderland in the league.
Thiago etched himself into the headlines at the end of September with two goals in the first 20 minutes against Manchester United at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Keith Andrews described that performance as “selfless.”
“He’s such a team player. He’s getting rhythm and confidence in his game.
“He’s now showing why the club brought him here 16 months ago,” Andrews said.
As Summer faded in Autumn, Thiago continued to find the back of the net.
He opened the scoring in the 43rd minute against West Ham at the London Stadium, while at home he recorded a penalty against Liverpool and two against Newcastle United.
Thiago also developed an instant rapport with the Gtech Faithful.
The reworking of Spandau Ballet’s Gold into a matchday chant that includes his name has become the song of the season so far.
“I’ve never had that feeling of the fans singing for me before,” he said in an extended interview with the club’s website.
“It feels like the fans here understand football differently, they know that if they support a player and the player feels good, it will impact the performance of the player.
“It’s very important for me to enjoy football and it’s also very important to have that connection with the fans, to celebrate together.’
Igor Thiago emerges from the international break second in the table of Premier League scorers, behind only Erling Haaland.
With 8 goals in 11 games so far, he is averaging 0.78 goals per 90 minutes. His 25 shots give him a goal conversion rate of 32% – higher than Haaland’s 31%
With the start of the World Cup less than 200 days away, Igor Thiago’s blistering form is making many ask the question posed by BBC Sport – “Is Thiago now impossible for (Brazil head coach Carlo) Ancelotti to ignore?”
The 24-year-old is also eligible to play for Bulgaria and turned down the opportunity to represent Brazil at under-23 level to keep his international options open.
A call-up for the Seleção is far from guaranteed given the attacking options available to Ancelotti, but the Italian doubtlessly has our number 9 on his radar.
“I’ve always dreamed of being able to play for Brazil,” he admitted in a Daily Mail interview.
“I always ask God that when he takes me to the national team, I don’t want to go just for the sake of it. When I get there, I want to stay
Igor Thiago has put the frustrations of his inaugural season in TW8 behind him. More goals for Brentford seem guaranteed and the biggest footballing stage in the world beckons.
In his first interview after moving to West London, he set out his ambition to “win titles, make a name for myself, make history.”
It may have taken a little longer than he had hoped, but Igor Thiago is now well on his way to doing just that.
By Stuart Hughes