Thomas Frank has weighed up the idea of raiding his former club Brentford for in-form striker Igor Thiago, but his successor Keith Andrews has given a firm response
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has been told to forget about raiding his former club to sign Igor Thiago. Frank is keen to bolster his attacking options - and has made Brentford star Thiago one of his targets.
The Brazilian has made an impressive start to the season, with seven goals in just 10 games in all competitions. This has alerted Frank, who signed Thiago while he was Brentford manager, in a £30m deal from Club Brugge.
Frank reckons Thiago could spearhead his side's attack for years to come, and be a huge success at the north London club. But Brentford have no intention of selling Thiago, and have made it clear to anyone interested that the 24-year-old is not for sale.
Thiago joined Brentford in the summer of 2024 to replace Ivan Toney, who headed to the Saudi Pro League. But he managed just eight appearances last season, due to a serious knee problem.
Aston Villa and Newcastle have also kept an eye on Thiago's development, but Brentford boss Keith Andrews was clear that no transfer would be sanctioned. “I’ve said over the past few weeks, I was really happy when the last transfer window closed," he said before the Bees faced Crystal Palace on Saturday.
“We’re not even in November, so I’m not going to talk about a transfer window that is two months away, that will inevitably come closer to the time. Thiago is going absolutely nowhere, absolutely nowhere, he’s a pivotal part of this football club, he doesn’t want to go anywhere, that won’t be happening.”
Thiago was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month for October and Andrews was asked whether he could repeat the trick of Bryan Mbeumo and reach 20 league goals this season.
"I think he wants more, that's what I'm hearing!" he replied. "He's clearly in a very good place, great rhythm in his game, playing with confidence, enjoying life. He's been a critical part of what we've done. It's nice to hear that he's been nominated, because he deserves it."
Andrews added: "He's already shown he can be a top performer in the Premier League. He gives the opposition a headache, the way he plays the game. I'm not sure many players will relish playing against him.
"He's very demanding of himself. Some players you have to push and some players you have to rein in - he's definitely the latter. He's in a great place and we want to keep him there. He's very, very determined to achieve things; as a team, first and foremost, but, by doing that, he will also achieve things as an individual.
"It's the selfless way he approaches games, you see how hard he works for the team, and then, from that, his goals, different types of goals. He's really settled into a groove and his team-mates are loving playing with him.
"It's just been about getting him into that rhythm and building those relationships, which I constantly speak about. We've been seeing that a lot more often in recent weeks."