Can Brentford keep their status after another summer of raids?

Mbeumo and Norgaard following Frank out the door would present the stiffest of challenges.

- By Dom Smith

QPR fans didn't mean it as a compliment. When Hoops supporters began chanting “you're just a bus stop in Hounslow” at their Brentford counterparts at a game a few years back, what they intended as a slight on the Bees’ modest history instead just gave them ammunition.

Brentford reclaimed the phrase to boast how they've punched above their weight perhaps more so than any club in England of late, moneyballing their way to the Premier League and now preparing for their fifth straight top-flight campaign. Now, though, comes a defining moment for the club.

Doubts about Brentford’s direction of travel follow the departure of Thomas Frank who, since 2018, had been the friendly face of this superbly well-run club. But that big move (to Tottenham) could not be passed up, Frank the latest in a long line of key Brentford assets plucked by the mighty.