Brentford's summer brings 'a massive moment in our evolution'
This summer could be a big one for Brentford, regardless of whether or not we manage to grab a place in Europe for next season.Five long-serving members of the squad will be entering the final year of their contracts, and although the club has a year's option on Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and Rico Henry, the deals of Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen completely expire in 14 months' time.It is unusual for the Bees to be in a position like this. I can't remember any recent season when so many key players could potentially walk away at the same time.All five of them, when fit, have been mainstays in our team for years - with all but Wissa joining us in the Championship. Losing a few of this group would be a massive moment in our evolution.I am quite sentimental when it comes to long-serving players and would like all of them to extend their stays - but football doesn't always work like that.While Mbeumo and Wissa are still first choice, Jensen has found it hard to force his way back into the starting line-up - ahead of the vastly improved Mikkel Damsgaard - since his recent recovery from injury and Yehor Yarmoliuk has started to be chosen ahead of Janelt sometimes.Henry has only just regained fitness following almost 18 months of injury and may find it hard to oust Keane Lewis-Potter, who has had an outstanding season covering for him at left-back.With Ben Mee and Josh Dasilva out of contract this summer, and Michael Kayode's loan coming to an end then too, director of football Phil Giles and his team are going to be busy!Find more from Ian Westbrook at Beesotted podcast, external
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Glasgow Times
31 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Tottenham close to agreement with Brentford over Thomas Frank appointment
Spurs sacked Ange Postecoglou on Friday – 16 days after he led them to Europa League success – and quickly set their sights on Frank. After positive initial talks over the weekend, confidence started to grow on Monday that Frank would be the man to replace Postecoglou and Tottenham made an official approach to their Premier League rivals later in the day. "One of the best stories in English football" 💬 We sat down with Thomas Frank to get his review of the 2024/25 season as we secured a second top ten finish in three years ⤵️ — Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) May 30, 2025 Discussions continued into Tuesday and centred on Frank's contract at Brentford, which runs until the summer of 2027 and contains a release clause reported to be in the region of £10million. Talks are set to enter Wednesday, but an agreement between Spurs and Brentford over a compensation package to appoint Frank is close, PA understands. Further progress is required over Frank's backroom staff and how many will follow the Danish coach to Tottenham. The 51-year-old would take over a Spurs side which won the Europa League last month but finished 17th in the Premier League. One of the first decisions he would be faced with if appointed concerns the future of Tottenham captain Son Heung-min. Son had a 12-month option in his current contract triggered in January. 'I still have one more year left on the contract,' Son said on Tuesday, as reported by Korean agency Yonhap. 'Rather than saying anything at this moment, I think we should all wait and see what happens.'
The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
Tottenham close to agreement with Brentford over Thomas Frank appointment
Tottenham are moving closer to reaching an agreement with Brentford over compensation to make Thomas Frank their new head coach, but talks will enter a third day, the PA news agency understands. Spurs sacked Ange Postecoglou on Friday – 16 days after he led them to Europa League success – and quickly set their sights on Frank. After positive initial talks over the weekend, confidence started to grow on Monday that Frank would be the man to replace Postecoglou and Tottenham made an official approach to their Premier League rivals later in the day. Discussions continued into Tuesday and centred on Frank's contract at Brentford, which runs until the summer of 2027 and contains a release clause reported to be in the region of £10million. Talks are set to enter Wednesday, but an agreement between Spurs and Brentford over a compensation package to appoint Frank is close, PA understands. Further progress is required over Frank's backroom staff and how many will follow the Danish coach to Tottenham. The 51-year-old would take over a Spurs side which won the Europa League last month but finished 17th in the Premier League. One of the first decisions he would be faced with if appointed concerns the future of Tottenham captain Son Heung-min. Son had a 12-month option in his current contract triggered in January. 'I still have one more year left on the contract,' Son said on Tuesday, as reported by Korean agency Yonhap. 'Rather than saying anything at this moment, I think we should all wait and see what happens.'
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Celtic Treble hero told to find a NEW CLUB by his international boss as he demands positional change
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) EX-CELTIC star Kris Ajer has been told to find a new club by his national team boss. The Norwegian defender left Celtic for Brentford in 2021 after making 176 appearances for the Hoops. Sign up for the Celtic newsletter Sign up 2 Kris Ajer left Celtic for Brentford for a fee of £13.5million Credit: The Sun 2 After four years at Brentford, his national team manager has told him he needs to find a move away from the Bees Credit: Getty Life at Brentford started bright for Ajer, as he made 28 appearances in his first season in England. Injuries have hampered the 27-year-old's Brentford career since then however. Ajer has been playing out of position when he has been fit in recent times, with manager Thomas Frank using the six-foot-five Norway international as a right-back. Ståle Solbakken, manager of the Norway national team, has told Ajer he needs to leave Brentford and England if he wants to improve. He told NRK: "He can be a very good and stable centre-back, and he was today, but he has to change clubs. "He cannot play right-back in every third game if he is to be a proper, safe and good centre-back. Because he has all the prerequisites. 'I think Ajer would have been better suited to playing centre-back in another league. "He has had some tough injuries in England. He will never be a super right-back, at the same level he is as a centre-back. "At the age he is now, I think he is allowed to put his foot down. You can't be a 'cover' right-back at his age now." Ajer has played less than half of the minutes available to him this season with Brentford. Celtic ace Vakoun Bayo dances for his team-mates but Kristoffer Ajer isn't impressed He was originally a midfielder in his early days at Celtic, but matured into a fine central defender for the Hoops. Ajer won three league titles, and the same amount of Scottish Cups and Scottish League Cups during his time in Hoops as he won the treble-treble. He netted the Hoops a whopping £13.5million transfer fee when he left for the Bees. Manager Thomas Frank looks set for Spurs after the sacking of another ex-Celt, Ange Postecoglu, with the Aussie linked with the Brentford job. Whoever takes the job will likely have a fight to keep Ajer at the club. Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
