Brentford star who Keith Andrews doesn’t want to sell wanted by club after ‘£13m bid’
Brentford could be about to sell one of their first-team stars against Keith Andrews’ wishes after he previously insisted that he does not want him to leave the club.
Brentford have been impressive in the early stages of this season despite being rocked by the exit of Thomas Frank and a number of key men over the summer.
Keith Andrews became Brentford’s new boss ahead of the new campaign, and he has defied many expectations to guide them into 12th place in the Premier League as it stands.
Igor Thiago has been imperative to Brentford so far this term, with nine goals in 12 appearances, and rumours have swirled around his future at the club as a result.
Vitaly Janelt could also be set to leave the Bees next year as he approaches the end of his deal, but one of their teammates may make an exit even sooner, with a January move mooted.
Kristoffer Ajer is wanted by Wolfsburg in January
Kristoffer Ajer has been a strong performer across the backline for Brentford since he joined the club from Celtic in 2021.
He has racked up 103 appearances for the Bees amid recurring injury issues, but could have left in August as Sky Sport Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg reported that Wolfsburg were pushing to sign Ajer after seeing a €15million (£13.2m) bid for his services rejected.
He remained with the West London outfit back then, but Sky Sports (13 November) have now revealed that Wolfsburg are again interested in signing Ajer in the January window.
Ajer still has two-and-a-half years left to run on his contract at Brentford, plus an option to extend until summer 2029, and he has made nine appearances under Andrews so far this term.
Andrews did not want Ajer to leave in the summer window
Andrews clearly rates Ajer highly enough to have wanted to keep him in the summer, but the 27-year-old has only made six starts so far this season across league and cup games.
He may well seek an exit in the new year as a result of not being first-choice at either centre-back, left-back or right-back, but the Bees boss will likely still not want to lose him mid-campaign.
Back in August when links to Wolfsburg first arose, Andrews was adamant that he wanted Ajer to remain at Brentford, as he said: “He’s someone I definitely don’t want to lose. Kristoffer is a big part of the group. He’ll be in the squad on Saturday (against Sunderland).”
More recently ahead of their October clash against Liverpool, he praised the Dane’s form after giving him a run in the team, saying: “It was a tough call to not play Rico (Henry) against West Ham, but (Kristoffer) Ajer played very well against Manchester City and deserved to keep his place.
“He played well again against West Ham. If people play well, they will stay in the team.”
It is clear that Ajer is someone who is valued by Andrews and many at Brentford, so Wolfsburg will clearly have to offer a bigger fee than £13m in January to prise him from their grasp.