Is Kelleher to Brentford the bargain of the summer? Transfer window Q&Apublished at 14:52 2 June
14:52 2 June
Sami Mokbel Senior football correspondent
Image source, Getty Images
BBC Sport senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel has been answering your questions on the summer transfer window.
Rob asked: How on earth are Brentford getting Kelleher from Liverpool for only £18m? That might be the bargain of the whole transfer window already.
Sami answered: It may well be the bargain of the summer, Rob. He is clearly a talented goalkeeper. But consider this: Kelleher is 26 and has only made 25 Premier League starts. That isn't a vast body of work to consider. Liverpool know that. Brentford will have used that to drive the price down. There is also no telling how Kelleher will adapt to becoming a Premier League club's first choice keeper because he has never been in the position before. Add to that that Kelleher's contract at Anfield expires next summer when he can leave for nothing and the anticipated arrival of Giorgi Mamardashvili, who will compete with Allison Becker to be first-choice, Kelleher's days at Liverpool were numbered. In many ways, Liverpool have done well to get £18m!
What can Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton spend this summer?published at 14:03 2 June
14:03 2 June
Steve Sutcliffe BBC Sport journalist
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Bournemouth have the lowest matchday revenue in the Premier League, with a 11,379 capacity at the Vitality Stadium.
Yet they have recruited shrewdly and the big-money sales of Dominic Solanke and Dean Huijsen during 2024-25 means they could easily part with £100m to bring in new gs.
Brentford are among the best run businesses in the league and their approach of "spotting players that other clubs have not considered, such as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, is likely to pay further dividends as they are attracting attention from clubs with big budgets", said football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
"The Bees have no PSR concerns and could spend up to £200m, but are unlikely to break the bank for the sake of it as this is not the way that owner Matthew Benham conducts affairs at the club."
Meanwhile, another club on the south coast, Brighton, are also in rude health heading into the next transfer window.
The Seagulls have earned £200m in profit over the previous two seasons and could repeat last summer's heavy spend of more than £200m if necessary.
However, chief executive Paul Barber has already indicated they will more likely return to their tried and tested model of bringing in relatively unheard of players from unfamiliar markets.
Brighton's biggest challenge is more likely to be keeping hold of the likes of Joao Pedro, Carlos Baleba and Kaoru Mitoma, who are all attracting iring glances from clubs with bigger budgets.
What if... the season came down to improvement?published at 11:40 2 June
11:40 2 June
As the dust settles on the 2024-25 Premier League season, we have been taking a look at some of the alternative ways the the table could have finished...
Many of us will have been there in school.
It was not always about being the best, but about being better. Not trying to beat the others' scores or times, but about beating your own.
In sport too, it is why personal bests exist. It is a way of measuring your own improvement against what has gone before - we can't all be Usain Bolt and Florence Griffith-Joyner.
So if the Premier League season was all about how you compared to the campaign before, who would have come out on top?
Well, there is one clear winner.
With 29 points more than they had in 2023-24, Nottingham Forest would have been lifting that trophy.
They may not have finished the season quite as they hoped having spent so much time in the Champions League spots, but having narrowly avoided relegation a year ago, this shows the sheer scale of the improvement this term.
Their nearest challenger on this basis would have been Brentford.
With 56 points, they were three points short of their best ever Premier League tally, but having flirted with relegation last time out, it made for a more enjoyable season this time around.
Brighton, Bournemouth and Fulham may have just missed out on European adventures in the real league, but they are also teams who can be happy with the improvements they are showing as now well-established top-flight sides.
And despite the chaotic nature of Chelsea since the new ownership came in, they too can look to steady progress.
At the other end of the scale (or table), it is a very different picture.
Many question whether the traditional 'big six' teams is still relevant, given how others have broken that mould in recent years.
But if the season was based on improvement, four of those six would have been at the bottom.
Tottenham dropped-off in the league nearly as much as Forest improved. Manchester City had a high bar to reach, but a torrid spell proved costly. Manchester United have set multiple unwanted club records, while Arsenal struggled to maintain a real challenge for the title.
They say beware the wounded tiger, and it is hard to see all these sides having the same difficulties next season, but they will not have it all their own way with those teams that are on the up.
*All data from Opta and only teams who were in the league in 2023-24
Kelleher set for Brentford switch - send us your thoughtspublished at 10:51 2 June
10:51 2 June
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As the early summer transfer window opens, there looks to be movement in the goalkeeping department for Brentford.
gs and sales - your transfer window prioritiespublished at 10:03 31 May
10:03 31 May
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We asked for you to tell us what you want Brentford need to do in the summer transfer window.
Here are some of your comments:
Jake: The ideal window will be to try to keep Mbeumo and Wissa at all costs, but we've got the depth for squad players to step up and seek a replacement. A couple of full-backs and a centre-back are a must. Lewis-Potter has done a job this season, but his future will surely lie as a forward.
Roger: If we lose Mbeumo, Sunderland have an amazing player called Mayenda.
Vin: If we lose Mbeumo but hold on to Wissa and our other attackers we'll be fine up front. With Henry and Hickey returning, our defence looks good. More creativity in midfield is where I see us needing to strengthen.
Kev: Don't sell Flekken, Mbeumo, Wissa or Schade. Buy an extra decent midfielder and some more centre-back cover.
Richard: Get a new goalkeeper and a midfielder that make the team better when there are inuries and players out. Then next season we could potentially get Europe, which would be amazing for this club.
Thank you for your published at 09:14 31 May
09:14 31 May
Thank you for the you submitted on the Premier League club pages.
Our aim is to contain all of the BBC's in-depth coverage of that team in one place, so it is helpful to hear from you - you are who the pages are for after all.
We are going through all your responses and will take suggestions on board for next season.
Mbeumo and Wissa in Williams' underrated XI of the seasonpublished at 16:11 30 May
16:11 30 May
As the dust settles on this Premier League campaign, we asked former England international Fara Williams for her underrated XI for the season.
She selected Byran Mbeumo and Yoanne Wissa from Brentford in her team.
I can't have one of these without the other really. For a club who finished 10th to have one player score 19 league goals and another score 20 is incredible.
When Ivan Toney departed last summer everyone wondered how Brentford would make up for his goals and I worried they may struggle to stay in the league without their main man.
However, Thomas Frank has adjusted his system to maximise the effectiveness of Mbeumo and Wissa whose quality and pace has caused so many Premier League teams' defences problems this season.
For context, Toney managed 20 league goals in his best season - and these two got 39 between them! It is an unbelievable goal return.
For Brentford to be fighting for and talking about Europe deep into the season shows how established they have become as a Premier League club and Bees fans must be raving about this duo every week.
There will be the inevitable conversations over whether the club can keep hold of them over the transfer window but regardless of what happens it has been a very special season.
Brentford finished the season as the league's sixth-highest scorers. Including the 11 scored by Kevin Schade, their front three scored 50 combined.
Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport's Nat Hayward
What needs to happen in the transfer window?published at 12:48 30 May
12:48 30 May
The transfer window opens on Sunday - albeit for 10 days initially, mainly so sides competing in the Club World Cup can get early business done - before reopening for the rest of the summer on 16 June.
Are there certain players you are desperate for Brentford to sign, or an area of the squad that needs improving? Or maybe holding on to a key player is your biggest priority.
And what about sales - who needs to go?
So over to you... what names need bringing in and shipping out?
Yarmoliuk signs new long-term Brentford dealpublished at 16:04 29 May
16:04 29 May
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Brentford midfielder Yehor Yarmoliuk has signed a new long-term contract, keeping him at the club until 2031 with an option for an extra year.
The Ukraine international signed for the Bees in the summer of 2022 from SC Dnipro-1 and, after initially impressing for the B team and making his first team debut, signed a five-year deal in 2023.
Yarmoliuk made 35 appearances in all competitions in the 2024-25 campaign, with 31 coming in the Premier League.
The 21-year-old started nine of the final ten games of the season and made his senior Ukraine debut against Belgium in March.
"I am very happy to sign a new contract with the first team," he said on the deal. "It just gives me more energy to work even harder.
"I've really enjoyed the season, starting in the Premier League and making my senior Ukraine debut. I'm so proud of myself and just want to keep going.
"You always need to have something to improve. I want to improve everything in my game to take myself and the team to the next level.
"I am so grateful to the club for this, and it gives me more confidence and enjoyment in playing football."
"I'm so pleased," added Bees Thomas Frank.
"It's another big success story for the B team. Neil MacFarlane and his team did a great job to get him ready for the first team.
"He's started the last six games, which is his next step. He's a fantastic pressing player, he's dynamic, and he covers so much of the pitch.
"He's strong in duels and he has a drive to run forward. I like the way he distributes over the pitch.
"Yehor has a few development areas as he's still a young player, but he is another good example of a Brentford player who will make us better in the future and who will also get better himself."
'I can see a player of such quality moving on in the summer'published at 12:14 29 May
12:14 29 May
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Andrew: Where do you see Bryan Mbeumo being at the start of next season? Do Brentford need to sell?
Brentford manager Thomas Frank certainly suggested there is the possibility of a deal to be done when he said: "I would like to keep him but we are a selling club so if someone comes in with the right price…".
The right price would be very expensive give his outstanding form for the Bees, scoring 20 league goals. Surely you are talking around £50m. I can certainly see why Manchester United would be interested if they can afford it, and while Brentford will quite rightly drive a hard bargain I can see a player of such quality moving on in the summer.
Who sprinted most in the Premier League season?published at 10:01 29 May
10:01 29 May
Chris Collinson BBC Sport statistician
Crystal Palace wing-back Daniel Munoz ranked second in distance covered (242 miles) last season and he also made the most sprints in the Premier League with 907.
Bryan Mbeumo and Milos Kerkez also rank highly, just behind Fulham's American speedster Antonee Robinson.
Newcastle's Anthony Gordon completes the top five.
While Gordon ranked fifth for sprints overall across the season, he sprinted more often than any other player, averaging 29 sprints per 90 minutes.
What's in a name? Well if the name's Anthony (or Antonee) then it is sprinting, with Gordon, Elanga and Robinson all in the top five.
Munoz is here again, coming in at fourth, behind Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson.
Head of player development Pressley leaves Brentfordpublished at 09:50 29 May
09:50 29 May
Image source, SNS
Brentford head of individual player development Steven Pressley has left the club.
The former Scotland and Hearts defender ed the Bees in 2021 and has played a role in progressing several players from the B team to Thomas Frank's squad, including Yehor Yarmoliuk, Ryan Trevitt and Paris Maghoma.
"After careful consideration, I've decided it's time for a new challenge in my career," Pressley said, external.
"I leave the club having formed some great friendships, great memories, and also being appreciative of the opportunity to work with some highly-skilled people, which has allowed me to learn and grow as a person."
Director of football Phil Giles added: ""As well as developing some of our best young players and having a meaningful impact on first-team performances in the Premier League, he's been a top professional and a pleasure to get to know as a person.
"On behalf of everyone at Brentford, I wish him well."
When will the 2025-26 Premier League fixtures be released? published at 08:21 29 May
08:21 29 May
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The BBC's Ask Me Anything team have done all of the research ahead of the announcement detailing next season's Premier League matches.
The fixtures for the 2025-26 season will be released at 09:00 BST on Wednesday,18 June 2025 and the release will include the weekly schedule of all 380 matches.
The season will begin with a single fixture played on Friday, 15 August 2025 and conclude on Sunday, 24 May 2026, when all matches will be played at 16:00 BST. There will be 33 weekend rounds of fixtures, plus five midweek rounds.
The exact date and time at which individual matches are played during each weekend will be determined at regular intervals throughout the season, based on TV selections made by broadcasters.
Who were the fastest and slowest players in the Premier League?published at 15:43 28 May
15:43 28 May
Chris Collinson BBC Sport statistician
Speed has become such a defining aspect of Premier League football for years now. Whether it's lightning-quick wingers tearing down the flanks or centre-backs chasing down counterattacks, speed can be the difference between winning and losing.
With that in mind, let's have a look at the fastest players in the Premier League this season.
Tottenham Hotspur's Micky van de Ven was the fastest player in the top-flight during this campaign, reaching a top speed of 23.1 miles per hour
Manchester City midfielder-turned-right-back Matheus Nunes was the second-fastest, just ahead of Nottingham Forest's speed merchant Anthony Elanga.
Not only does Bryan Mbeumo run a lot and sprint a lot, he's fast too…the whole package!
As for the slowest players, the above data looks at outfield players that racked up at least 10 full games' worth of minutes – to give them a chance to build up some steam.
In that metric, Wolves' 35-year-old defender Craig Dawson was the slowest player, reaching a top speed of 18.4 miles per hour.
Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and West Ham's Tomas Soucek may be among the slowest players, but they were also two of the hardest runners - covering over seven miles per 90 minutes - which shows they were built for stamina over speed.
'I can't wait for more' - Bees make Kayode deal permanentpublished at 12:56 28 May
12:56 28 May
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Brentford have confirmed Michael Kayode's loan move from Fiorentina has been made permanent, with the defender g a five-year deal.
Kayode signed from Fiorentina in January, initially until the end of the season, and established his place at right-back in Thomas Frank's starting XI for the final six Premier League games of the season.
The Italy Under-21 international made 12 appearances, assisting Yoanne Wissa's goal in the 4-3 win over Manchester United in April.
"I am so excited to extend my stay at Brentford," Kayode said.
"I have felt so welcome from the first day I arrived at the club, thanks to my team-mates and the care the coaching staff have shown me. I've wanted to play in the Premier League since I was a child and it's been so good to do that here. "I can't wait for more next season and beyond!"
Brentford director of football Phil Giles added: "Michael has been fantastic for us since he arrived in January, not only with regards to his performances, but also in of his personality and the energy he has brought to the training ground.
"It was an easy decision to make his transfer permanent this summer, and we look forward to seeing him back for pre-season in July."
Your Brentford player of the seasonpublished at 12:54 28 May
12:54 28 May
We asked you to select your Brentford player of the season from the four candidates chosen by our fan contributor.
And with the poll now closed, we can reveal the winner is... Mikkel Damsgaard!
Mikkel has been a revelation this season and finally shown the superb form he displayed for Denmark in Euro 2020.
His eye for spotting a and playing it is exceptional and only Mohamed Salah, Jacob Murphy and Anthony Elanga have more than his 10 assists in the Premier League this season.
The players who run and run...published at 12:34 28 May
12:34 28 May
Chris Collinson BBC Sport statistician
Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes covered the most ground this season, running 261 miles (St James' Park to Wembley is 271 miles).
He retains the award after racking up 263 miles in the competition last season.
Josko Gvardiol, Daniel Munoz, Bryan Mbeumo and Milos Kerkez complete the top five for most distance covered across the Premier League season.
Taking time on the pitch into (out of players that played over half the available minutes), Guimaraes was pipped by Newcastle team-mate in the list by team-mate Sandro Tonali who covered more ground per 90 minutes than the Brazilian…although Bruno still ran 7.2 miles per 90 minutes!
Tottenham's Dejan Kulusevski ran harder than any other player this season, covering 7.7 miles per 90 minutes on average.
West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek ran an average of 7.5 miles per 90 minutes, while Manchester City's Bernardo Silva (7.3) and Brighton's Yasin Ayari complete the top five.
Which teams put a shift in this season?published at 08:03 28 May
08:03 28 May
Chris Collinson BBC Sport statistician
Bournemouth and Tottenham were the most physical teams in the Premier League this season when considering the distance they covered and the number of sprints performed.
The results might explain why they had a lot of injuries.
Newcastle and Brighton were not too far behind though, with Brighton actually covering the most ground in the league, with fewer sprints.
Chelsea and Liverpool's style of play saw them sprint a lot but not cover a lot of ground, while Manchester City and Arsenal were the opposite (ran a lot but didn't sprint a lot).
Nottingham Forest very much had their own style of play this season as they both ran and sprinted the least.
Fan scorecard: Ideal g? Overriding emotion?published at 12:42 27 May
12:42 27 May
Ian Westbrook Fan writer
Image source, Getty Images
Season rating: 8/10. Our second top 10 finish in four Premier League seasons, three players scoring 10 or more goals - only a European place could have topped this.
Happy with your manager? Thomas Frank is the inspiration behind Brentford's rise. A brilliant tactician and man-manager, he totally understands the club's philosophy and financial limitations. He has adapted our playing style as our Premier League life has gone on - and while other clubs may try to get him over the summer, he knows he is on to a good thing with us and will never lose his job.
Unsung hero: Probably captain Christian Norgaard - not so much unsung by Brentford fans but by ers of other teams, who still don't know what he can bring to a side. With us for six years, and now staying for two more, the side is poorer without him. He breaks up so many opposition attacks, but can also play a key and has improved his goalscoring this season. It is amazing he still doesn't have his own terrace song!
Player you would most like to sign: A lot of this depends on who goes and who stays in the summer. Bryan Mbeumo, if he is sold, is irreplaceable, but we have players we can move to the right. However, if we also lose Yoane Wissa, then, while we have Igor Thiago, I would try to sign Liam Delap from Ipswich. Like Wissa, he seems like a natural finisher, is a good age and has already scored goals in the Premier League.
Right now my overriding emotion from the season is: Pride that my little club, who I've largely watched at League One and League Two level, are deservedly the 10th best team in England. And pride at the way we are run, the unity between the players, as well as between them and us fans, and also the genuine care for people the club seems to show.
'Brentford are always entertaining'published at 12:41 27 May
12:41 27 May
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Here's my quick assessment of Brentford's Premier League season - and a return to my August predictions.
Ended the season: 10th
Pre-season prediction: 17th
What an outstanding job manager Thomas Frank continues to do at Brentford. They finished in the Premier League's top 10 and the days when many (guilty!) thought they would struggle to survive in the top flight are long gone.
They made a nonsense of those pre-season pessimists. (Guilty again!)
Brentford are always entertaining with those two outstanding forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa. They barely missed a beat after the loss of Ivan Toney.
What I said in August: "Manager Thomas Frank continues to do a fine job but this may be his biggest test."
Image source, Getty Images
