From Brentford to big time: why Spurs are eyeing Frank

It is the kind of story that has got around the Premier League, and explains why so many wealthy clubs have considered Thomas Frank.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

Earlier this season, the Brentford coach was having a chat with Fabian Hurzeler, and enthusing about Brighton's style of play.

“I’d love to play like this,” Frank said, before smiling. “I’d need another £100m, though.”

If that sounds self-indulgent, and like a manager who can only play a certain way if he is given sufficient money, it isn’t. It is really testament to the job he has done without money. After Brentford got promoted in 2020-21, they had by far the lowest wage bill in the Premier League for the next two seasons. Figures of £68m and £99m should have sent them straight back down, in a way we’ve seen with so many other promoted clubs.

Frank instead established Brentford in the Premier League, making them a fixture. It’s hardly as if other clubs are queuing up for their players, either, in the way they are with Bournemouth. He has made them so much better than the sum of their parts, and it is why Tottenham Hotspur are actively pursuing him.

Analysis by Swiss Ramble shows that Brentford have been top of the league in terms of performance relative to wages for every single season they have been in the Premier League. That shows the scale of Frank’s overperformance.

It could be said this is merely a case of a manager perfectly fitting one club, as can happen. Except, Frank hasn’t always had the same approach, or even the same kind of team. Brentford have gone through multiple different incarnations under the Dane, as a team and a club.