Brentford

If you could only buy one, sell one, and loan out one player at Brentford, who would you pick?

That was the question we asked you to answer, with the transfer window set to open on Friday.

Here are some of your thoughts:

Nick: Buy: Antonio Nusa - I would like another stab at buying him because he is so highly rated and would be a statement signing. Sell: Ivan Toney - it is how our model works and we need to make maximum profit on him to reinvest. Loan: Ethan Brierley - it would be nice to see him go to the Championship for a season.

Russell: Buy: Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal - he would be a great player if it would ever be possible to bring him in. Sell: Ivan Toney - we need to sell him and we all know why. Loan: Frank Onyeka - he is not good enough.

Jacob: Buy: Sergio Reguilon. Sell: Ivan Toney. Loan: Any of our reserve goalkeepers because we have got too many!

Dan: Buy: Matt O'Riley from Celtic - he has been amazing this season, is Danish so would fit into the squad, would have a reasonable price tag and hasn't attracted attention from the big clubs. Sell: Ivan Toney - we need to get at least £40m for him and he has got to move on now.

Charlie: Buy: Sammie Szmodics from Blackburn. Sell: Ivan Toney. Loan: Kieran Tierney from Arsenal.

Brentford striker Ivan Toney says he did not want his eight-month football ban for breaking Football Association betting rules to be a personal "sob story".

Toney, who was charged with 232 breaches in May 2023, was suspended from football until 17 January, 2024.

The 28-year-old returned to training for the Bees in September and scored four goals in 17 Premier League appearances once his ban was lifted.

Reflecting on his "difficult" season that has finished with a place in England's European Championship squad, he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast: "Because of the person I am, I do not want anyone to feel sorry for me.

"I put myself in that situation. I had to deal with it.

"I do not want a sob story and life goes on. There are people in this world fighting for their life and in the worst situations, so you just have to get on with it and move forward.

"I did that and now I am here at a major tournament."

Gareth Southgate had options in the forward position heading into the Championship in Germany and there was a question mark over Toney's inclusion because he failed to score in the last 12 games of the season.

However, one strength he should bring to the squad is fitness.

Asked about whether he is in better shape than his Three Lions team-mates, who have played a full season, he joked: "I would like to think so!

"But it is about how you are feeling mentally too, and I am feeling great and excited."

Listen to the Football Daily Podcast on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

The transfer window opens on Friday, and we want to know what matters to you most this summer.

If you could only buy one, sell one, and loan out one player at Brentford, who would you pick?

Tell us here, external

Image source, Getty Images

Brentford will play Benfica in a friendly at Estadio da Luz during a pre-season trip to Portugal.

Benfica, who finished second in Primeira Liga in 2023-24, will host the Bees on Thursday 25 July at 20:00 BST.

The club will also face fellow Portuguese top-flight outfit Estrela on 30 July.

Finally, Brentford have announced a friendly against National League side Sutton United in July but are yet to give an official date.

Image source, Getty Images

The 2023-24 Premier League season may have only just finished but there is only 10 weeks until the 2024-25 season is scheduled to start.

So what are the key dates that you need to know?

When does the season start and finish?

The 2024-25 Premier League campaign will get under way during the weekend of 17-18 August.

It will take place over 33 weekends, with four midweek rounds and one Bank Holiday matchweek.

To allow for a mid-August start, there will not be a 'winter break' this time around. However, to avoid Christmas and New Year fixture congestion, the league will give more rest time to sides over three of the festive match rounds, with no club playing within 60 hours of another match.

The final round of fixtures will be played on Sunday, 25 May 2025, with all games to kick off at the same time.

When are the fixtures released?

09:00 BST on Tuesday, 18 June.

We will have all the details here for your club as soon as the fixtures are released.

Sign up for news notifications to find out all the key fixtures

When does the transfer window open and close?

The summer window will officially open on Friday, 14 June, which also happens to be the start of Euro 2024, and will remain open until Friday, 30 August at 23:00 BST.

Transfer deadline day has been brought forward this year to be in line with the other major leagues in Europe. The closing dates were set following discussions with the leagues in England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France.

Follow your club page and make sure your notifications are on so you don't miss a transfer deal.

Image source, Getty Images

Brentford striker Ivan Toney's "promise" for England is what has got him his selection for Euro 2024, according to BBC Radio 5 Live's football correspondent John Murray.

The forward was unavailable for the first six months of the season while he served a suspension for breaking gambling and betting rules.

After scoring four goals in five Premier League games on his return, he has since failed to find the back of the net in 12 matches.

Despite this drought, he was included in Gareth Southgate's initial 33-man squad for the European Championship but it was believed the Three Lions boss would have to choose between him or Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins to take to Germany.

On Thursday it was confirmed that both Toney, who has two caps and one goal, and Watkins would be on the plane having made Southgate's final 26-man selection.

"It is 12 matches he [Toney] has played for Brentford and not scored so I just feel that the glimpse that we have had of him in an England shirt has carried a lot of promise," Murray said on the Football Daily podcast.

"It is only a couple of appearances and we might see him on Friday night as well, but it is correct what Gareth Southgate says about Toney and Watkins - they are very different players that offer very different things.

"I am tempted to say we have seen more promise from Toney than we have seen from Watkins in the time they have been on the field wearing an England shirt. Watkins has played considerably more with 12 caps."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

We asked what you think is Brentford's number one summer priority.

Here are some of your responses:

Nick: I think we have all accepted the end of Ivan Toney's time at the club but we cannot afford to lose Bryan Mbeumo in the same window. Keeping him should be the top priority. Other than that, I think we need to bolster the midfield. In the Newcastle game at the end of the season it was far too easy for them in there.

JP: Sell Toney as quick as possible. He's been great but we need to build up squad depth.

Charlie: Full-back cover is a must. Also, the club investigation into why we had so many injuries last season needs to be concluded before we go back for pre-season training.

Dan: Sell Toney and don't pick up any more injuries. Depth is a clear weakness for the squad, spend some money buying some decent back-ups and save the rest for January in case anything comes up. We need Henry and Hickey to recover and please don't sell Mbuemo or Wissa.

Ian: With so much speculation surrounding the club since the end of the season, I look forward to a much more settled side for 2024-25. Possibly Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo leaving to pastures new. David Raya signing permanently for Arsenal. I am sure that the management team has identified player targets in addition to Igor Thiago, who joins in July.

Chris: Igor Thiago is a potential game-changer and if he, Wissa and Lewis-Potter click it'll be goals galore. Hopefully the cause of the amount of defensive injuries we had last season will be found. The club is in good hands and even if there's a change of head coach, our future is bright.

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport Football News Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Ollie Watkins was one of eight players in England's starting XI against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday who made their senior debuts outside the Premier League.

Watkins made the leap from Exeter in League Two to Brentford in the Championship and then to Premier League side Aston Villa in the space of three years.

Former Bees manager Dean Smith was the man who tempted Watkins to Brentford in the summer of 2017 for £1.8m, where the forward quickly adapted to different levels.

Watkins responded by improving his nutrition, taking meals home from the Bees' chef and he now has a home gym.

The 28-year-old was developing an elite mindset which has made him one of the top strikers in the Premier League.

Ice baths in the early hours after European games, where he makes calls to his family and friends, have become second nature.

As a result, he missed just one game in the Premier League this season.

Smith, who later left Brentford for Aston Villa, made Watkins the club's then record signing in 2020, paying £28m for the striker.

Read more here

The club summer is off and running, so what's the first thing that needs sorting out at Brentford?

Is it a contract, a transfer, a fan issue or something else?

Let us know your thoughts here, external

Sunderland are determined not to sell 18-year-old England youth international Jobe Bellingham, with Brentford, Crystal Palace and Tottenham all keen on the midfielder. (Guardian), external

Want more transfer news? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

Crystal Palace are in talks with Sunderland over a deal for 18-year-old English forward Jobe Bellingham. (Standard), external

But Brentford are also interested in Bellingham, who can play in midfield. (Athletic - subscription required), external

Want more transfer news? Read Friday's full gossip column

Liverpool have placed a £20m valuation on 22-year-old Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg, who is attracting interest from Brentford, Southampton and Wolfsburg after a successful loan spell at Mainz. (Athletic - subscription required), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Image source, Getty Images

Simply avoiding relegation is not enough for Brentford boss Thomas Frank, he wants his side to be an "asset" to the Premier League.

After promotion from the Championship in 2021, the Bees finished 13th and ninth before a more challenging 2023-24 campaign ended in 16th - albeit a comfortable 13 points above Luton in the final relegation place.

"Every single time we have a season in the Premier League, it's a success - but we just always want more," Frank admitted in a long read on the club's official website, external. "Instead of avoiding something, we want to achieve something.

"It's never been about survival, I just don't like that word, I think it’s negative. I need to find another phrase that's better… ‘staying up’ or ‘another season’.

“People talk about the 40-point mark but that's never been an indicator for us. We want to constantly try to become better.

"We want to be an asset to the division."

Mitigating factors for last season include the 21 injuries they suffered and the eight-month ban handed to star striker Ivan Toney for breaching Football Association betting rules that meant he only featured for the final few months.

"I think we still had a good season," Frank said. "We could still have had more, even with the injuries we had.

"Looking at a club of our stature, we can be pleased with every season in the Premier League and we can never take that for granted.

"This season was a small reality check. I say, ‘We win or we learn’ - there's been a lot of learning this season unfortunately!

“You tend to learn a little bit more when you don't have ultimate success."

Before his and Brentford's fourth Premier League season, Frank believes the positives are clear.

"Season by season, I hope we will have even more control in games, with the purpose of creating more chances," he added.

"We have an exciting club, an exciting squad with good players that have much more in them to go to the next level. We have a new striker in Igor Thiago coming to the club too.

"For all those reasons, and many more, I’m feeling very positive."

Manchester United have held talks with the representatives of Brentford manager Thomas Frank, with Erik ten Hag at serious rick of being sacked. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

Frank has also held meetings with Chelsea as they look for a manager after parting company with Mauricio Pochettino. (Christian Falk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Image source, Reuters

How closely have you been paying attention to the Whites' Premier League campaign?

Check out our Brentford quiz - and see if your knowledge is in order.

Try it now

For all the club Premier League quizzes, head here

McNulty’s pre-season prediction: 10th

Actual finish: 16th

Things looked tricky for a while as Thomas Frank and Brentford struggled at times, but in the end showed enough to confirm they are very much part of the Premier League landscape.

They found it tough without main striker Ivan Toney as he served an eight-month ban for breaching FA betting rules, but were able to get the results that kept them safe even when he went through a barren scoring spell.

Read the rest of Phil McNulty's end-of-season Premier League report here

We asked you to select your Brentford player of the season from the four candidates chosen by our fan contributor.

After voting in your thousands, we can reveal the winner is... Bryan Mbeumo!

Image source, Getty Images

And here's what Ian Westbrook from Beesotted podcast, external had to say about Mbeumo when the shortlist was selected on 15 May...

"On his form in the first half of the season, Mbeumo would have walked the player of the season award. He had seven goals and three assists in 15 Premier League games before injury ruled him out for almost four months. Bryan has scored once more and assisted twice since his return."

See the breakdown of results

And here is how the votes went for the other 19 Premier League clubs

Image source, Getty Images

Brentford secured a fourth-successive season of top-flight football, despite being without goalscorer Ivan Toney for half of the season.

Ian Westbrook, from Beesotted podcast, external, has given his verdict on the 2023-24 campaign.

Season rating: 7/10. Our hardest season yet in the Premier League because of the horrendous injury crisis, Ivan Toney's ban and David Raya's departure. Given all that, to stay up comfortably and never be in the bottom three is an impressive achievement.

Happy with your manager? Very. Thomas Frank is the perfect manager for Brentford and the architect of all our recent success. The players clearly love him, the fans love him - and he loves us - and he is constantly overachieving. Last week, in response to rumours linking him to Manchester United, Frank said he hopes to stay with us for many years, and I am sure everybody hopes that will be the case.

Unsung hero: Mads Roerslev. The Dane is always playing second fiddle to other full-backs when they are fit, but this season took part in 34 of our 38 Premier League games with others unavailable. He has grown in confidence to become a very reliable player.

Player you would most like to sign: If Ross Barkley decides to leave Luton Town to try to stay in the Premier League, I think he could be an ideal signing for us to add some more experience to our midfield. While we do not normally sign players aged 30 or above, we made an exception with Pontus Jansson, which proved a brilliant decision, and Barkley’s skill and know-how would definitely help us.

Best away fans: It is often hard to hear the away fans from where I sit at the Gtech, but Newcastle United's supporters on Sunday were definitely among the loudest to have visited us this season.

See how our other fan writers rated their club's season here