Premier League 2025-26 Preview No 4: Brentford

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 18th (NB: this is not needfully John Brewin’s prediction but nan mean of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 10th

Prospects

The summertime has seen Brentford transformed from established and admired nine to being nan enigma they erstwhile arrived successful nan Premier League as. If anything, moreover little is known astir what awaits them than backmost successful 2021. The departure of Thomas Frank removed nan club’s nationalist face, personification who embodied and fronted nan emergence of 1 of London’s smaller concerns. Without him, uncertainty is unavoidable.

Frank was a immense plus to nan club, bordering connected irreplaceable and so, Brentford must do things differently, arsenic ever nether nan club’s idiosyncratic mostly ownership. There is dense spot successful nan process that benefactor Matthew Benham employed to found Brentford, while Phil Giles is simply a highly respected sporting director, astatine nan nine for complete a decade. The brace met successful a different sphere, nan world of sporting statistic for betting purposes. Their awesome bet this summertime is to switch Frank pinch a rookie head successful Keith Andrews, appointed from within. Many outer punters now fancy Brentford for nan drop.

Success aliases nonaccomplishment will travel via those processes. Frank took 3 cardinal members of unit successful Justin Cochrane, Chris Haslam and Joe Newton to Tottenham. Another assistant, Claus Nørgaard, has besides departed. The playing unit will besides look markedly – and for fans, almost surely worryingly – different. Manchester United were shaken down for nan afloat valuation of Bryan Mbeumo while Yoane Wissa has agitated to travel his partner retired nan door, too.

If those 2 were nan biggest-name departures past further on-field activity has exited successful nan nine captain, Christian Nørgaard, nan seasoned centre-back Ben Mee and Mark Flekken, nan popular, underrated goalkeeper. A very different Brentford will shake hands opponents adjacent season, pinch nan ex-Liverpool brace Jordan Henderson and Caoimhin Kelleher instantly becoming nan astir wide recognised players astatine a freshly chartless amount successful whom fans are asked to support nan faith.

The manager

Keith Andrews is caller successful nan occupation but he’s not an unfamiliar face, having enjoyed a lengthy media profession since his status from playing. Last season, Brentford fans became utilized to nan show of Andrews connected nan sidelines arsenic Frank’s set-piece coach. Kieran McKenna, nan Ipswich manager, was connected nan database of possibles, arsenic was nan departed Cochrane for different wrong appointment. In precocious June, Andrews, pinch small frontline managerial erstwhile beyond spells arsenic adjunct astatine MK Dons and past nan Republic of Ireland, was plumped for. He has immense shoes to fill, moreover if he does person nan bountiful hairsbreadth to lucifer his beloved predecessor.

Keith Andrews takes from Thomas Frank successful westbound London. Photograph: Maja Smiejkowska/PA

Off-field picture

The summertime of awesome alteration continued successful July erstwhile Benham cashed retired a number liking of astir 25%, for a woody valuing Brentford astir £400m. The caller number owners are nan South Africa-based UK businessman and erstwhile Autoglass main executive Gary Lubner and nan movie mogul Sir Matthew Vaughn, down specified films arsenic Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Kick-Ass and Layer Cake. Vaughn is besides Mr Claudia Schiffer. Benham had been seeking caller finance since precocious 2023, and nan brace person paid £100m for their stock of his Best Intentions Analytics holding company. Vaughn has revealed he antecedently considered buying successful 25 years ago, erstwhile “it would person been overmuch cheaper”. The main executive, Jon Varney, and Giles will, though, proceed to tally nan nine time to day.

Star signing

At 35, Jordan Henderson still has plentifulness to prove. There are doubts complete his candidacy to beryllium a personnel of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad aft ill-starred, and controversial, moves to Saudi Arabia and Ajax. If galore expected a return to his Sunderland roots, Henderson chose London, location possibly being small coincidence he is wrong easy scope of a Tuchel scouting trip. Henderson, arsenic a Premier League-winning captain, brings immense experience, nan type of activity a nine shorn of cardinal unit mightiness seek. But has he nan legs to play nan all-out pressing style Brentford favoured nether Frank and highly apt to proceed nether Andrews?

Stepping up

Michael Kayode’s indebtedness move from Fiorentina was made imperishable successful May for a interest of £17.5m, aft 12 awesome Premier League appearances. The Italy Under-21 world showed disconnected his committedness during that short window, including a rampaging overlapping right-back’s capacity successful a 4-3 May victory complete Manchester United that showed disconnected Frank’s squad astatine its risk-and-reward best. “He was very strong,” said nan departed head of a powerhouse capacity from a subordinate who has assimilated good into nan Bees’ culture. “An easy decision,” said Giles erstwhile nan move was made permanent. Kayode’s agelong throws correspond a sizeable summation to nan already vulnerable set-piece repertoire Brentford tin boast.

A large play for

Fábio Carvalho is another, though possibly forgotten, ex-Liverpool subordinate wrong nan Brentford squad, personification who fell unfortunate to nan spate of injuries that denied Brentford’s push for Europe past season. Like Igor Thiago, nan club-record signing striker whose first play was wrecked by a knee injury, a enarthrosis wounded robbed nan 22-year-old of nan last 3 months of 2024-25. Both Thiago and Carvalho will correspond near-new additions to Brentford’s squad. West London, erstwhile astatine Fulham, is wherever Carvalho played nan champion shot of his profession though admittedly astatine Championship level. Frank ne'er rather harnessed nan Portugal Under-21 subordinate signed for £27.5m a twelvemonth ago. “The caller coaches person been awesome – afloat of energy, caller ideas,” Carvalho said during his club’s pre-season training camp.