Brentford manager Dean Smith has confirmed to Get West London that although James Tarkowski is set to miss his second Brentford game in succession, he says that he expects him to remain a Brentford player ‘for the foreseeable future’. He sat out the Brentford game last week after refusing to play and Smith says that he won’t feature against Leeds tomorrow as well.
It has been well-documented that former Oldham Athletic defender Tarkowski harbours ambitious to return back to the North-West. Burnley as such tabled an offer for the player, which was rejected by the Griffin Park club. They have a set valuation and Smith said that he doesn’t expect any club to meet that fee in the final week of the transfer window.
The 23-year-old has become a key figurehead in the Bees back four ever since signing in January 2014. He helped the club achieve promotion into the Championship within six months of signing, helping the club finish as the runner-up in League One. Smith told Get West London that he still expects Tarkowski to remain with the club for some-time yet,
“I’ve sat down with James a number of times since what happened a week ago. He’s a great lad around the place. I’ve said quite a lot on it already, I’m sure James is going to come out with a statement and he will give his reasons why he made the decision he did. He’s a young lad. I think we’ve all made mistakes. We won’t bite his head off for it. We’ll try and help him through the tough period he’s had.
He’s not available for Leeds. I don’t think it’s right and it’s still a bit too raw. We have a break at the weekend and we can, hopefully, have him back for the weekend after.
We’ll always have a plan if players do go but I don’t envisage James leaving. As I said before it all started, nobody has got near his valuation and I don’t see it happening in the foreseeable future.”
It remains to be seen if Burnley or indeed any other club, North-West or not, produced a sufficient offer to lure Tarkowski away from the London club. They ended their four-game losing run without Tarkowski at the weekend versus Preston North End, so he may struggle to win back his place in the team anyway!
