‘Not ideal’ – Brentford chief opens up on Yoane Wissa transfer saga

Brentford endured a “more difficult” transfer window than usual this summer after Yoane Wissa forced the club to sell him to Newcastle United.

The Bees lost a number of key figures ahead of the season as Thomas Frank left to become Spurs head coach, Bryan Mbeumo joined Manchester United and Ben Mee was released at the end of his contract.

The west London outfit did not intend on letting Wissa go as well during such a period of upheaval, but the striker refused to play for the club until he got his move to St James’ Park.

Ultimately, Brentford relented, selling the DR Congo international for an initial £50 million, plus £5m in add-ons on Deadline Day. The player was so eager to join the Magpies that he drove through the night to get the deal done, which only happened with 30 seconds left in the transfer window.

Brentford director of football Phil Giles lamented the affair played out in public, calling it “not ideal” while discussing the difficulties faced this summer, but also insisted that “in many ways” it was no more trickier than previous windows.

“It’s been an interesting last few days and in fact, an interesting last few weeks,” Giles told Brentford’s official website. “The big story is selling Yoane Wissa . He was a fantastic player for us, started off playing wide and evolved to take on the No 9 position and had a brilliant season last year.

“He was a really good, infectious character who was positive around the players and the fans. I personally liked him a lot as well, so there’s nothing but positive things to say about his performances on the pitch for us.

“Transfers are always complicated. There’s always a little bit of emotion, friction and dialogue. That normally stays in house but obviously this one spilled out. It’s not the only one this summer that has spilled out a little bit more into the public domain which is, from my point of view, not ideal.

“You have got to take the emotions out of it and got to ultimately make the decisions for the club. Every decision I make or we make collectively during a transfer window will strip all of the emotion out of it and focus purely on what is the right decision in this moment in time for the club overall.

“To some extent, it’s been no more difficult than many other transfer windows personally.

“It maybe just slipped out publicly a little bit more this time than normal, so people got a bit more insight into how things tend to play out.”

Read – Five unforgettable transfer Deadline Day stories

See Also – The most expensive transfers involving English teenagers

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