Brentford ‘eye shock Harry Winks deal’ after Leicester statement
Brentford could swoop for midfielder Harry Winks following the latest statement made by Leicester City.
The Bees have endured a challenging summer, with manager Thomas Frank, captain Christian Norgaard, top scorer Bryan Mbeumo and goalkeeper Mark Flekken all leaving the club.
However, new boss Keith Andrews has made efforts to soften the blow with the signings of Caoimhin Kelleher, Antoni Milambo and Jordan Henderson, among others.
And Brentford may not be done yet.
Brentford eyeing shock move for Harry Winks
While Henderson will offer bags of experience and quality to Brentford’s midfield, he is now 35 years old and cannot be expected to go the distance week after week in the Premier League.
But Brentford appear to have identified a target to work alongside Henderson in the form of Winks.
The former England international has been with the Foxes since 2023 and played over 4,000 minutes during their 2023/24 Championship-winning campaign.
Winks was also a regular last season, playing 26 times across all competitions, but he couldn’t stop Leicester suffering relegation.
Still only 29 years old, Winks would surely still offer plenty of possession quality to the right side, so it’s little surprise to see La Liga side Valencia and Fiorentina of Serie A pushing for his signature.
But according to Mike McGrath, Brentford have also held a long-standing interest in Winks have been keeping tabs on him this summer.
Winks is in the final year of his Leicester contract and faces an uncertain future at the club — and speculation will only increase after he was named on the bench for their Championship opener against Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.
Brentford must keep focus on keeping Wissa
Football Insider verdict
Midfield will certainly be an area of focus for Brentford, but all eyes remain on what their striker situation will be.
Yoane Wissa has been clinical for the Bees over the last couple of seasons, scoring 31 goals in the Premier League alone since the start of 2023/24.
But that form has attracted the attention of bigger suitors, with Newcastle United heavily linked with Wissa amid uncertainty around the future of Alexander Isak — while Callum Wilson also left the club at the end of his contract.
And things have been complicated further for Brentford, with Liverpool now considering a bid for the DR Congo international as they face the prospect of missing out on Isak.
Given how many key elements of their side they’ve already lost, a sale of Wissa could be catastrophic for Brentford, making the job on the hands of new boss Andrews so much more difficult.
Signing players like Winks will certainly help, but the biggest piece of business Brentford could do in the remainder of this summer is keeping hold of Wissa.