Correlation FC

2025-26 season preview

Significant departures. Transfer uncertainty. Can Brentford stay up? Is this the season that reality hits? These unfamiliar narratives have dominated discussions about the Bees this summer, but how well founded are they? What do we see for the season ahead?

Who has left?

There's no question that the Bees have seen some important people leave over the summer. Thomas Frank has moved to Tottenham, bringing several backroom staff members with him. Mark Flekken has returned to Germany for a chance to play for Leverkusen. Bryan Mbeumo was sold to Manchester United for a record fee. Christian Norgaard has moved to Arsenal. All 3 will play Champions League football next season. Ben Mee has also left at the end of his contract.

So the team has lost their coach, their captain, their keeper, their top goal scorer last season and the most important "Meeeeeee" in the team. Last season, those 4 players played a combined total of nearly 10,000 minutes for the Bees. That's a big gap to fill. But those gaps also mean opportunities for other players.

Who else might leave?

Yoane Wissa seems to be most likely to leave, with the latest rumours suggesting he might be on his way to Newcastle or Saudi Arabia. If he is to leave, he'll be a big loss for the Bees as well.

The Bees squad is still quite large, so we expect to see some players sent out on loan. It's not clear what will happen to players like Frank Onyeka or Mads Roerslev who went out on loan last season but have returned to the Bees. They, of course, have several young players who will be looking for a spot on the senior team but may end up staying with the B team or going out on loan.

Who has arrived?

Brentford have signed (more or less) like-for-like replacements for Flekken and Norgaard, bringing in Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool as well as former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson. Both players will be expected to bring a wealth of experience and a winning mentality while contributing immediately.

The Bees have also brought in some exciting young attacking talent, signing Antoni Milambo from Feyenoord in the Netherlands and promoting Romelle Donovan from the B team.

What has remained the same?

As things stand at the time of publishing, the Bees have more than 20 returning senior team players, including newly named captain Nathan Collins, record signing Igor Thiago, slippery midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard, as well as long-time players like Rico Henry, Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen. So despite all of the attention-grabbing departures, the core team is largely unchanged.

Brentford player flow during Premier League era, as of 12th August 2025 (source Correlation FC)

The Bees have retained 9 players from their original 2021-22 Premier League squad through to the start of the 2025-26 season.

UPDATE 2nd September 2025: The player flow has been updated again now that the summer transfer window has closed.

What about off the pitch?

The Bees named Keith Andrews as the team's new head coach. Last season, as many of you will remember, he was the set-piece coach. The Bees had a great season at set pieces, famously scoring in the first 2 minutes in 4 consecutive games, scoring 6 goals from throw-ins and defending corners as well as anybody in the league. Neil MacFarlane was promoted from the B team to take one of the vacant assistant coaching roles. There has been complete stability among team management with no changes to key positions like chairman, director of football, and technical director.

What are they going to wear?

As expected, the team will continue to wear red and white stripes at home this season, the 100th anniversary since first embracing red and white. The team will be wearing brown away from home with a blue third kit.

These colour bands represent the colours used in Brentford's home, away and third kits for the 2025-26 season.

4 players we expect to see take their game to the next level

We expect to see some of last season's stars shine this year along with one notable newcomer.

1. Mikkel Damsgaard landed himself on everybody's radar last season, but we expect that he'll raise his level again, controlling the ball in midfield and chipping in with a few more goals.
2. New captain, Nathan Collins, played every league minute last season and was a stabilising factor for the Bees backline - while he may not be lucky enough to play every minute again this season, we think he'll embrace the extra attention he'll get this year to provide more leadership, more blocks and more goal contributions.
3. Irish teammate Caoimhin Kelleher will look to capitalise on the opportunity at Brentford. He never had a chance to be the first choice goalkeeper at Liverpool, only playing 10 league games last season, but will surely be given every opportunity to shine at Brentford this season.

5 players we think will have break-out seasons

Every season brings new opportunities, but this season we expect to see these players shine, thanks in part to the opportunities created by departing players.

1. Igor Thiago has not yet made the impact that he or the team would have hoped for when he signed. He should see plenty of the ball and is looking lean and strong in the pre-season. Once he has time to mesh with his wingers, we expect to see lots of goals.
2. Fabio Carvalho has already started the pre-season well with a nice goal. He'll have a great opportunity for more playing time this season which should help give him the consistency that he needs to contribute.
3. Michael Kayode impressed in his half season with the Bees and will look to continue to bring his energy, drive and long throws to own the right back position this season.
4. Yehor Yarmoliuk will start the season as one of the first choice defensive midfielders, likely spending time playing alongside Henderson and Janelt. His tireless running, passion and fearlessness will surely mesh well with the way that Andrews wants to shape his team.
5. Antoni Milambo is a bit of an unknown quantity, at least in the Premier League, but we think that the positive signs he's shown in the pre-season will propel him to a great first season in the league.

3 players we hope can stay injury-free

Of course we don't want any players to get injured, but we're really hopeful that these 3 can stay healthy.

1. Rico Henry – who doesn't want to see Henry charging up and down the left side of the pitch? Hopefully there will be a lot of "Rico" chanting this season.
2. Aaron Hickey will have to fight for playing time, but his strength and versatility will surely be an asset to the team. He'll want to play his way back into the Scottish national team squad as well.
3. Josh Dasilva has had a tough couple of seasons, but we're optimistic that he'll be able to return to full health and stay with the team. It would be a shame to see him leave and realise his full potential elsewhere.

What is going to happen?

Only time will tell what will really happen, of course. But for now, we'll start with a few Correlation FC predictions. We think that the Bees will ...

1. Earn enough points to avoid relegation and remain in the Premier League next season (40 should do it)
2. Score fewer goals than the 66 they scored last season
3. Concede fewer goals than last season's 57
4. Keep more clean sheets than last season's total of 9
5. Do the double over Sunderland – the Bees have only lost twice to teams in red and white stripes during their time in the Premier League, so the Black Cats don't stand a chance

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