Take your mind back a few short months to the late afternoon of 25th May 2025 when the Brentford team led by their long-serving, successful and charismatic Head Coach, Thomas Frank strolled over to the away end at Molineux and saluted the travelling fans at the conclusion of a highly successful season, capped off by a 1-1 draw on the final day against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Fast forward now to the start of September and the core of that team alongside their leader and inspiration have left with the heart seemingly ripped out of the squad. How has this happened as this seems totally un-Brentford like as we are a club which prides itself on continuity and longevity of tenure on the part of players and coaching staff alike?
It is a truism that football teams evolve, to stand still is to regress and a constant stream of new blood is necessary to refresh and invigorate and further drive standards.
Well, yes and no as far as Brentford are concerned. Unlike Sunderland who seem to have rewarded their promotion winning team from last season by replacing pretty much the entire squad, Brentford emphasised continuity after winning the Championship Playoffs in 2021, aided as they were by the quality of recruiting that ensured that the bulk of that squad were Premier league ready.
The likes of Raya, Roerslev, Pinnock, Jansson, Henry, Norgaard, Jensen, Janelt, Canos, Toney and Mbeumo not only survived the cull but went on the become mainstays of Brentford’s successful efforts to establish themselves, as maestro, Phil Giles often said, “as an average Premier League team.”
Of course, new players came in over the years, mostly promising young talent who could be developed and perhaps sold on when they came to the boil, and the club was canny and patient enough to allow the likes of Keane Lewis-Potter and Mikkel Damsgaard the time to find their feet at this new exalted level of football before they finally made their mark.
In the Championship the Bees were a selling team who regularly allowed their prize assets such as Maupay, Hogan, Jota, Benrahma and Watkins to leave when their value reached its peak and they had already been replaced. The Bees became the masters of extracting massive sums from their rivals.
All changed after promotion as the massive increased television income allowed the club to hang onto their star players who were also needed to help establish the team at the top level.
The Championship team remained as the core of the squad, and indeed, Henry, Pinnock, Jensen and Janelt are still contributing as we commence our fifth season after promotion – an incredible and almost unprecedented achievement that has largely gone unnoticed.
In the first four years in the EPL there were only three major outward transfers. Striker Marcus Forss was sold in July 2022 to Middlesbrough for around £3 million – a massive fee and indeed profit for a player who had fallen totally out of the first team reckoning.
David Raya moved to Arsenal after an initial loan – the first sale to a “Big Four” team and then Ivan Toney was sold to Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League after becoming our first full England international in modern times.
Major sales were therefore few and far between, anticipated well in advance and perfectly controlled and managed.
Why then did everything change in this Transfer Window?
The answer is quite simple.
We became victims of our own success. The upper echelon of the Premier League finally stopped thinking about us as “teams like Brentford” and recognised that we possess a lot of awesome talent both on the pitch – and probably most importantly – in the dugout too.
It was surely only a matter of time until someone came calling for Thomas Frank and after almost seven years as Head Coach (second only to Pep Guardiola in terms of length of tenure) and coming close to jobs at the likes of Aston Villa, Chelsea and Manchester United, he finally took the plunge in the middle of June and accepted the challenge at Spurs.
Of course, we must have known that he would leave us sooner rather than later and perhaps he stayed even longer than expected but it was still a massive dagger to the heart to everyone associated with the club, and one exacerbated when Assistant first-team coach Justin Cochrane, head of athletic performance Chris Haslam and first-team analyst Joe Newton joined him at Spurs.
This obviously put our preseason plans and preparations on the back foot and from then on it appeared that for once we were reacting rather than initiating and being proactive in the market as has always previously been the case and our wont.
After much speculation the Head Coach job went – to initial bemusement outside the club at least – to last season’s Set Piece Coach, Keith Andrews, a loquacious, experienced and multi-talented coach but a man without any previous experience as a number one or Head Coach.
It is early days so the jury remains out as to whether the decision to maintain continuity by promoting from within was a master stroke or a Dijkhuizen-esque mistake. The initial signs seem favourable. It is plainly obvious that the players have responded well to him, they appear motivated and organised and he is an excellent man manager who speaks lucid common sense and has played a blinder with his handling of the awkward and testing (to say the least) Yoane Wissa situation which we will cover shortly.
The Head Coach situation was an unwanted distraction which necessitated time and effort to resolve and it was also obvious that we would be losing at least one of our star players.
Bryan Mbeumo had given us exceptional and almost unprecedented service for six seasons and at almost 26 and coming off a 20-goal season was probably approaching his peak. He had more than earned his move and was a massively attractive target for the top teams but the salivating and lucrative prospect of an auction was pre-empted by Mbeumo himself stating a preference for joining Manchester United, the team he had supported as a boy.
The club would obviously like him to have stayed but also coveted the massive fee anticipated and a game of cat and mouse emerged between Phil Giles and his counterparts at Old Trafford without the opportunity to play them off against another serious bidder.
Who knows what might have gone off behind the scenes but Mbeumo maintained his dignity and behaved impeccably and leaves a hero when United, after a tortuous process were finally inveigled into bidding £65 million plus another £6 million in potential add-ons – not bad for someone who cost the club a then club record fee of £5.8 million.
This was an incredible piece of business which smashed our previous transfer fee received record by over £25 million.
Losing Bryan was a blow, albeit one that was almost inevitable. What was not anticipated at the beginning of the Transfer Window were three additional departures – and not just any old player but stars and key members of the team and dressing room leaders.
Goalkeeper Mark Flekken had developed into a top Premier League goalkeeper who made more saves than any of his counterparts last season. His wonderfully accurate and swift distribution also played a key role in getting us through the initial press and onto the attack. Out of the blue he was offered the opportunity to return to Germany to join Bayer Leverkusen, situated near to his home town and a move that he and his family were keen to take up and he was a surprise departure for around 11 million Euros.
Captain, hero and midfield inspiration Christian Norgaard was the next to go. Having just signed a 2-year contract extension it was another surprise when the mighty Arsenal came in for him offering the 31-year-old a 2-year contract and the opportunity to play Champions League football. This must not have been an easy decision for the club. On the one hand, like Mbeumo he had been a mainstay of the team for six seasons and this would be the last opportunity for the club to earn a transfer fee for him, but he was still crucial to the team both on the pitch and just as importantly, off the field and his influence would be sorely missed throughout the club. The club decided to sell and he has brought in a transfer fee that could well go up to around £15 million.
Another player and just as importantly – character – who will be extremely hard to replace.
What has affected our preseason the most – and not in a positive way – is the Yoane Wissa saga.
He started the Summer as a total fan favourite but has now just left the club having been the cause and perhaps instigator of nothing less than chaos and distraction. Having scored 19 EPL goals last season and seeing his best buddy Bryan Mbeumo leave for glamour and riches beyond comprehension, it is perhaps unsurprising that Wissa thought that he could and should also better his own situation and he, understandably, recognised that at almost 29 years of age major opportunities might not be as lucrative and plentiful in two years’ time once his contract and option clause with Brentford expired
From the club’s point of view losing one of Mbeumo or Wissa was acceptable but losing them both most certainly was not.
Wissa and his entourage made it perfectly clear that he wanted out to join Champions League bound Newcastle United and they waged their battle publicly through the media whilst the club kept a typical and dignified silence.
Games were played by him when he left the training camp in Portugal early and made it clear that he had no wish to play for us again. Pettiness abounded when he removed all mentions of Brentford from his Instagram page – such grown up behaviour by a 28-year-old!
Newcastle waited in the long grass, distracted by their own want-away in Alexander Isak, perhaps even quietly egging Wissa on – who knows – but not making us anywhere near an acceptable offer for him.
Wissa made a last minute and desperate plea to the club to let him go and on the final day –of the window Newcastle finally cracked, offering us a massive £55 million fee for him.
It was clear that Wissa would make it extremely hard to reintegrate himself into the squad had a deal not been finalised and whilst he and his team emoted, Giles stayed calm and unemotional recognising that, with the loss of Mbeumo, Wissa was even more valuable to us. The money finally offered was just too much to turn down.
Amongst all the brouhaha it is easy to forget that solid, faithful, consistent and competent Mads Roerslev also quietly left the club for surely a seven-figure fee, joining Southampton. What a testimony he is to the success of the B team, joining us for a nominal fee and playing over 120 times for us and playing a major part in the Championship Playoff Final.
Unlike perhaps one of the other departures, he will only be remembered with pleasure and gratitude and he will always be welcome at the club.
Ben Mee has joined Sheffield United after providing three seasons worth of excellent leadership and young goalkeeper Ben Winterbottom finally has the opportunity to build his career at Barrow. Several of the young prospects such as Ji-soo Kim, Jayden Meghoma, Benjamin Frederick and Ryan Trevitt were also despatched on loan.
All in all the club will eventually receive the thick end of £150 million in return for the departing Head Coach and players – an eye watering sum indeed, but it is no use being the richest club in the Championship and it is how that money has and will be reinvested that will decide whether this transfer window has been an accountant’s delight or a supporter’s nightmare.
The club made seven additions to the squad during the Transfer Window. Caoimhin Kelleher has built up a reputation of being the best number two goalkeeper in the EPL whilst understudying Alisson at Liverpool and now receives the chance to prove he can make it as a first choice. On paper this looks an exceptional deal as he cost around £12.5 million – a fee not significantly higher than the one we received for the much older Mark Flekken. We wish him well.
Michael Kayode has already made an indelible impression in his short time at the club as a loanee last season and fans will be delighted that he has signed permanently for around £15 million. An absolute bargain! What a prospect he is and we are salivating at the prospect of watching him develop and improve over the coming seasons.
Exciting young attacking midfielder, Antoni Milambo – he of the twinkling feet – joined us for around £16 million from Feyenoord and is surely one for the future.
Winger Romelle Donovan made his loan from Birmingham permanent for around £3 million and immediately joined the first team squad.
Current England international Jordan Henderson will bring his leadership to bear and ideally take over the Christian Norgaard defensive midfielder role.
Replacing Bryan Mbeumo is surely a thankless task. Initially it seemed like Omari Hutchinson would be joining us but the move fell through and we welcome versatile forward Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth for a huge fee that could approach £42.5 million – this is the going rate now for a Premier League ready striker and he has already begun to make his mark.
Towards the end of the window efforts were made – with an apparent club record £45million bid for Max Beier at Borussia Dortmund to replace Wissa being rejected by his club. He is a wonderful young player who perhaps has set his sights on a club higher up the food chain than us. One day we will succeed in signing a Beier, Johnson or Bakayoko – and perhaps that day is not too far away!
A like for like replacement will have to wait for the next Transfer Window in January but – thinking out of the box – we brought in at the last knockings Arsenal loanee winger Reiss Nelson, a tricky two-footed customer who will add pace, guile and goal threat from either flank and his presence will also allow Schade or Ouattara to play as a central striker either alongside or instead of the improving Igor Thiago.
The window has finally closed and it is now up to Keith Andrews who has been dealt a difficult hand given the circumstances he inherited to mould the squad into a team in his own image. The defence already looks more solid particularly given the full complement of full backs available at last, but it will take longer to sort out the optimum balance in midfield and get the forwards acting as a cohesive unit.
You always want one player more and this window is no exception. Had we managed to replace Wissa – an almost impossible task given the time parameters – then this Window would have been an almost perfect one – as it is, time will tell.