Are Brentford paving the way for a Liverpool summer swoop?
Are Brentford paving the way for a Liverpool summer swoop with their transfer business in January?
The Bees always do interesting business and have a fine recruitment team in place, which means it always pays to see who they are recruiting and what it could mean going forward. For the Reds, it could mean that some of their top tier talent is available and that should interest Michael Edwards and Jurgen Klopp.
This month, Brentford have brought in young forward Halil Dervisoglu from Sparta Rotterdam and they’ve got Marcus Forss back in the squad after he netted 11 times in 18 games for League One AFC Wimbeldon.
They also have Nikolaos Karelis in the first team, who should be fit to resume duties next campaign after suffering an awful crucial ligament injury.
Brentford are good at scouting from lower leagues and also signed Oxford United forward Tariqe Fosu. This has got ‘long-term planning’ written all over it, and given the performance of their current front three it’s not surprising.
Ollie Watkins is primarily a central forward but can play anywhere across the front three, he’s English, at the right age for a step up into the Premier League and is incredibly fit. Watkins has only missed two minutes of action for the Bees all season – which came when he was subbed off after 88 minutes after scoring a hat-trick against Barnsley.
Roberto Firmino needs more regular pressure on his place and a back up to his role. It doesn’t look like Divock Origi will ever be that man, even if he is still capable of making important interventions.
Bryan Mbeumo is having an excellent campaign as well, but he’s in his first season in England and seems the least likely to move on – but Said Benrahma could.
Brentford don’t let their best move for peanuts. Neal Maupay was sold for over £20 million to Brighton and you’d have to expect a similar fee for Watkins.
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The London side are clearly planning for it, he would be the perfect age profile for Klopp and would improve over time. That £20 million might not seem so high after all.