Stefan Borson: This is why Brentford could be forced to agree new deals, ‘big issue’ revealed
Brentford are currently on course to qualify for European football following their strong performances this season.
Brentford were one of the pre-season favourites for relegation following the departure of Thomas Frank for Tottenham over the summer.
However, Keith Andrews has been heavily praised for his work at the Gtech Community Stadium since taking over from Frank.
The Bees secured a 3-0 victory over Sunderland in their latest Premier League outing, helping them move up to fifth in the table.
Igor Thiago has been linked with a move away from Brentford following his form in recent months, having registered 17 goals in 22 appearances this season.
How European qualification could impact Brentford financially
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Brentford could be forced to strengthen their squad as European qualification would create a “big issue”.
A fifth-place finish could once again be enough to qualify for the Champions League this season depending on England’s coefficient ranking.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about how European qualification could impact Brentford, Borson said: “The Conference League, especially with their stadium, is probably neutral in terms of it’d be an experience, but they’d need a bigger squad. That would cause some problems because that would have cost.
“They probably wouldn’t generate that much, but they could get to the latter stages of the Conference League. Europa League they are probably unlikely to get past say the quarter-finals.
“There’s a big issue with the squad. They would make a little bit of money, but they would have to invest more in the squad. They would probably end up paying quite a lot of bonuses. It might not be that great for them financially.
“Champions League is clearly transformational, but it’s very unlikely. Yes, they’re in fifth now, but they’re pretty unlikely to finish fifth, I would say.”
Why Brentford could face issue under new Premier League rules
Borson revealed Brentford are likely to only be able to spend 70 per cent of their revenue on squad costs if they were to qualify for Europe this season.
“Because of the way that we think the system is set up with squad cost ratios, we haven’t seen the rules yet because they’ve not been published by the Premier League formally, but it appears that you get treated the same if you’re in the Conference League as you do if you’re in the Champions League, i.e. your percentage cap drops to 70 per cent,” said Borson.
“So, if you’re a small club like Brentford, you then get in the Conference League and you’re capped at 70 per cent, that’s really difficult because you haven’t got the associated revenue jump that some clubs would get from the Champions League.”
Brentford’s next fixture sees them take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday (17 January).
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