Yoane Wissa finally got his transfer to Newcastle on deadline day, having released an explosive statement accusing Brentford of 'unduly standing in his way' throughout the summer
Brentford director of football Phil Giles has sent a pointed message to Yoane Wissa after the forward completed his long-awaited £55million move to Newcastle on deadline day. Wissa, 29, criticised Brentford for 'unduly standing in his way' of a transfer during the summer and left the club's pre-season training camp early.
The DR Congo international returned to first-team training for a short period before once again working away from Keith Andrews' squad at the end of August. Ahead of the deadline, Wissa released an explosive statement saying that he had 'repeated promises' from Brentford that he could leave the club this summer if they received a 'reasonable offer', claiming to have it 'in writing'.
But Brentford were reluctant to part ways with Wissa given that they'd already sold star Bryan Mbeumo to Manchester United in a deal worth up to £71m after selling captain Christian Norgaard to Arsenal. The Bees also lost manager Thomas Frank to Tottenham during the summer, marking a period of change at the club.
Giles, who celebrated 10 years at Brentford in May, has now opened up on the club's transfer window during an in-house interview. Although he acknowledges that Wissa's departure was ultimately best for both parties, Giles reiterated that there was a 'contractual position which needed to be respected', with Brentford having issued an ice-cold press release confirming his exit.
"Transfers are always complicated," he began. "There is always a little bit of emotion, friction, and dialogue. Obviously, this one spilled out, which from my point of view is not ideal, but it happened and we had to manage that.
"We are dealing with human beings who have their own career, life, opportunity, and dreams to follow, but against that is a contractual position which needs to be respected.
"For me, fundamentally, when you have to make a decision about a transfer, complicated decisions which are impactful on the pitch and off the pitch, you need to stay focused on what is the right decision for the club.
"Every decision we make during the transfer window, we strip all the emotion out of it and focus on the right decision at this moment in time for the club overall, combining short-term need and long-term position and opportunity."
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Wissa - who scored an impressive 20 goals for Brentford last season, becoming their all-time top goalscorer in the Premier League - insists that his conversations with the Bees were 'always respectful'. "There was a lot of respectful communication, always respectful communication," the French-born attacker said after signing a four-year contract with Newcastle.
"Open talks back and forth, of course, but always respectful. So they had their argument and I had mine, but the most important thing was it was always respectful with all of them.
"That is why I kept myself fit, training, seeing the guys, and being around every day, waiting for the right move. It was a wonderful journey, even for this deal to happen is difficult because I had a story at Brentford.
"That is why I have a lot of respect for them. Even though I am now a Newcastle player, I have a lot of love and respect for Brentford."