Speaking to The Mirror, Brentford boss Thomas Frank has said seeing former Bees stars impress in the Premier League leaves him feeling satisfied and proud.
Brentford have built up a reputation for being a club that develops young talents before selling them on to bigger clubs for big fees. That pattern continued in the summer transfer window, with both Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma sealing moves to the Premier League.
Former Bees hotshot Watkins was snapped up by Aston Villa and he has gone on to net an impressive eight goals in 10 games for Dean Smith’s side.
Benrahma is yet to make his first start for his new side but made two substitute appearances for West Ham. He laid on the assist for the winning goal in the Hammers’ dramatic win over Fulham before the international break.
Now, Brentford boss Thomas Frank has opened up about the club’s recruitment strategy while speaking to The Mirror. The Bees boss said that the sales of the likes of Watkins and Benrahma leave him feeling both very satisfied and proud. He said:
“It’s remarkable that this year particularly — and I know it wasn’t the right order, necessarily — but both Ollie and Said were record transfer sales from the Championship going into another league.
“It says a lot about our recruitment and how we develop players and make them better, and we are very flexible in that. So of course there’s a sense of pride.
“To see Ollie performing well and I’m sure Said will perform 100% well, and to see Ezri [Konsa] in Aston Villa and Neal [Maupay] at Brighton showing they perform well when they go the next level, is very satisfying. That’s only the last three or four years.”
In other Brentford news, Ivan Toney has reacted after being named as the Championship’s Player of the Month for October – find out what he had to say here.
