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Brentford Owner Wanted to Sign Four Stars, Including Eze and Mudryk

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Brentford owner Matthew Benham have revealed that he nearly signed four players for the Premier League club, and they’ve since cost other teams a total of £266.2m in combined transfer fees. Two now play in the English top-flight, while one is currently a Champions League star.

Benham has been in full control of the Bees, his boyhood club, since 2012, when they were playing in the English third tier. Thanks to clever investment, they’ve since risen to the Premier League, and have impressed many since their 2021 promotion from the Championship.

The club owner made his money through gambling and got his break in 2001 when Tony Bloom, who later became the owner of Brighton & Hove Albion, hired him to work at Premier Bet. With that past in mind, it’s no wonder Brentford have been able to take a chance on lesser-known players and turn them into genuine stars.

The likes of Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, David Raya, and Yoane Wissa have also been sold for huge profits in recent years, but that doesn’t mean Benham has been perfect when it comes to recruitment.

Matthew Benham Could Have Signed Premier League Pair For £4m

omar marmoush

Speaking at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, Benham revealed that Brentford could have signed Eberechi Eze and Omar Marmoush for a combined fee of just £4m. He recalled:

“There’s always going to be ones you regret.I was saying before that we could have signed Eze for £4m I think in 2019. We could also have signed Marmoush on a free about three years ago.

“[We could have signed both] for about £4m combined.”

The 9 Players Ralf Rangnick Recommended to Manchester United


The 9 Players Ralf Rangnick Recommended to Manchester United

Manchester United may wish they’d paid closer attention to Ralf Rangnick’s recommendations.

Eze would star for Crystal Palace, winning them the FA Cup, before sealing a £67.5m move to Arsenal last summer as he hopes to get his hands on more silverware in north London.

Marmoush made a name for himself as Eintracht Frankfurt before joining Manchester City in 2025. The Egyptian cost an initial fee of £59m, but that figure could rise to a further £4.2m if certain bonuses are met.

Brentford Also Missed Out on Two More Big Names – One Was a Dodged Bullet

There is another player who has since ended up at a Premier League club, although things haven’t actually worked out for him since. Benham also mentioned a fourth player who now plays at Bayern Munich, having spent some time in England too. Explaining why those deals didn’t get across the line, he said:

“The summer we got promoted to the Premier League, there was actually two players that scouted amazingly, amazingly well.

“One was [Mykhailo] Mudryk which was maybe a bit complicated if we signed, although we were quite close to signing him for a low fee, for about €20m. Eventually, he went for more like €80m though he’s currently serving a drug ban.

“Then Michael Olise, his scouting was unbelievable, out of this world but we just got promoted and we weren’t used to the crazy agent fees in the Premier League at the time.

“The agent fee for that one was so insanely high that we stepped away, even though there was part of us thinking ‘well, if you combine the agent fee and the transfer fee, it’s kind of not too bad,’ but the agent fee on its own was just so insane that we stepped away. There’s always going to be ones you miss out on.”

It looks as though Brentford were quite lucky to miss out on Mudryk. He later joined Chelsea in a deal worth up to £89m but mustered 10 goals and 11 assists in 73 appearances before the FA charged him with violating anti-doping rules, meaning he hasn’t played since 2024.

Benham will certainly regret not paying Olise’s agent those extra fees. Instead, the Frenchman joined Crystal Palace before he then made them £50.7m as he moved to Bayern Munich. bagged 33 goals and 48 assists in 91 outings to date, winning the Bundesliga in 2024/25.

In total, the combined fees Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea and Munich have spent on the four players mentioned come to a total cost of £266.2m

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Arsenal Lower Asking Price For Gabriel Jesus

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Arsenal are set for a more considered approach to their summer transfer business than some of their rivals, with minor tweaks expected to the squad over the coming weeks on the market.

Given the strength in depth in the Gunners’ ranks, any moves in are likely to come after exits, with a key goal for Andrea Berta likely to be the improvement of fees accrued via sales.

Several stars have been linked with deals elsewhere, with Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli attracting interest from clubs away from the Premier League.

However, there is also the possibility of an exit for Gabriel Jesus this summer.

Arsenal Lower Gabriel Jesus Asking Price

Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus and Arsenal's Kai Havertz

One player who Arsenal are open to an exit for is Gabriel Jesus, as the Brazilian enters the final year under contract at the Emirates Stadium.

The forward has struggled for form and fitness over recent seasons, making 27 appearances last season with six goals and two assists to his name across all competitions.

Given his struggles in getting back to top form, Arsenal could sanction a sale, as Caught Offside reports that the Gunners have lowered their asking price for the forward.

It’s claimed that the Gunners are now willing to listen to offers in the range of £20 million to £25 million to let the 29-year-old leave this summer.

The club had initially set a valuation of £30 million for Jesus, who was previously linked with a move to Serie A as well as a return to Brazil with Palmeiras.

However, a sale at that price point isn’t seemingly possible, and now Arsenal are keen to lower that valuation in an effort to get a deal done.

Jesus is believed to be among the top-earners at the club, earning around £265,000-a-week, and an exit could help save some money on the club’s books.

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Arsenal May Want Versatile Replacement

Mikel Arteta
Mikel Arteta
via Reuters

An exit for Jesus may come at a fitting point, given that his arrival signalled Arsenal’s first real push to win the Premier League, and his exit comes with a winners’ medal in hand.

His initial signing brought plenty of quality, a mixture of physicality and technical brilliance that left opposition defenders on tenterhooks when trying to face off with him.

The injuries have started to pile up and that spark has now seemingly gone, so an exit in the final year of his deal could be wise to help recoup some money towards another key signing.


Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta celebrates Champions League win against Atletico Madrid


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Arsenal have been linked with a move for a midfielder this summer, as they look to improve their options in the centre of the pitch.

A similarly versatile option could be desired, someone who is capable of playing as a centre-forward behind Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz, but can also receive minutes out wide.

Transfer target Christos Tzolis can certainly provide some of that, largely featuring on the left wing with an ability to play as a centre-forward.

However, it remains to be seen whether a different marquee arrival could replace Jesus this summer.

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Tottenham Transfer Strategy As We Know It Is Officially Over

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Roberto De Zerbi has already made a huge difference to Tottenham Hotspur on the pitch and now he is working his magic off the pitch in the summer transfer window.

The Italian arrived in north London at the end of March following a dreadful interim spell in charge of the club by Igor Tudor. The Lilywhites were in a perilous situation, staring down the barrel of a first relegation to the second tier in nearly 50 years.

But he turned the club’s fortunes around and a 1-0 win over Everton on the final day of the season secured their Premier League status.

Four new signings have already arrived at Tottenham

Jan Paul Van Hecke
Jan Paul Van Hecke

And that has allowed them to delve into the transfer market and make changes to an ailing squad to give De Zerbi what he requires to push the club back towards the top of the table once more.

Four signings have already been made – three of them free transfers – with Andy Robertson, Marcos Senesi, Martin Dubravka and Jan Paul van Hecke all arriving in N17.

Spurs have had a £75million bid for Sandro Tonali knocked back by Newcastle and are in talks over an £85million move for West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes.

It’s clear with De Zerbi at the helm and the Lewis family vowing to invest in the squad, a new approach has come to light at Spurs.

Tottenham securing either or even both of Fernandes and Tonali would see them break their transfer record, which stands at £65million paid to Bournemouth for Dominic Solanke two years ago.

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Talk of breaking transfer records has barely happened in the white half of north London over the past decade and here we are speaking about it potentially happening not once, but twice.

And we haven’t even got to rumours around striker signings yet, the closest we have come being wide forwards like Savinho and more recently Crysencio Summerville.

Spurs have changed their approach under their new head coach

Roberto De Zerbi clapping the Tottenham fans

What do all the names above linked with a move to Spurs have in common? They are readymade, Premier League-experienced players. It is a win-now approach from De Zerbi that the owners appear to be getting behind.

Under former chairman Daniel Levy, Spurs would often be slow and meticulous in the market, with Levy known as a tough negotiator, someone who would always eke out the very best deal for his club. That would often come at the detriment of the squad, with transfers left to the very last moment, or even too late to get done.

Ignoring the free transfers, Spurs splashed out £52million on van Hecke from Brighton and after two failed bids, got the deal done. They saw the player they wanted, they haggled over price for a short time, but relatively quickly signed their man. Spurs know what they want and are going after it. It is a refreshing approach.

Spurs have been stuck in what has felt like an endless loop of transition, building for the future. Under De Zerbi, the Lilywhites are building for the here and now. It is a new approach and it remains to be seen if it is successful, but the old Tottenham in the transfer market is dead.


Roberto De Zerbi


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Tottenham are continuing to assess midfield options this summer, and could land a star compared to Declan Rice.

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Lewis Hall Wants to Join Man Utd and Play in the Champions League

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Manchester United have received a fresh summer transfer window boost with the news that an England international star wants to join them this summer, according to the Sun.

Man United sprung into action immediately after the end of the Premier League season and quickly agreed a deal to sign Ederson from Atalanta, as they look to transform their central midfield ahead of next term when they return to the Champions League.

The Red Devils may have expected to get another midfielder through the door by now, but business has been complicated by the 2026 World Cup and the valuations being set by clubs for their targets.

A move for their top summer target Elliot Anderson proved inhibitive, with Manchester City agreeing a huge £116m deal to sign the Nottingham Forest star.

United turned their attention to West Ham United’s Mateus Fernandes, who they would have hoped to land for a reasonable fee after the Irons were relegated to the Championship.

However, the Irons are in no mood to sell their prized asset on the cheap, and they are demanding a fee of between £80-85m to begin concrete talks over a sale.

United are considering strengthening other positions too, including on the left-hand side.

Lewis Hall Wants to Join Man United

lewis hall england via Reuters

According to the Sun, one of the other positions they could bolster in this summer transfer window is left-back.

Luke Shaw started all 38 of United’s Premier League matches last term having suffered from injury issues previously, but there is little quality and depth behind him in that position, especially if the Red Devils decide to use Patrick Dorgu further forward on a full-time basis.

The increased workload of a Champions League campaign could increase Shaw’s risk of injury too, with Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall one player they have been looking at.

The Sun report that the £70m-rated Englishman is keen to join United and play for them in the Champions League, especially after believing that Eddie Howe cost him his place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad this summer, after how he was managed during Newcastle’s run-in last term.

Newcastle have already sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona and at a time when Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Tino Livramento are all being linked with exits, they must try and keep hold of some of those players, including Hall.

The Magpies are said to be loath to sell the full-back to United in particular, given he has three years remaining on his contract.

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United Identify Fernandes Alternatives

West Ham United midfielder Mateus Fernandes celebrates scoring Premier League goal against Sunderland via Reuters

Not only are United being put off by West Ham’s high valuation of Fernandes, but the emergence of Tottenham Hotspur in the race for the 21-year-old has made things even more difficult.

Should the Red Devils fail to land the Portuguese star, they do have other targets on their radar this summer, with Premier League experience.

Two of those, according to GIVEMESPORT sources, are Brighton and Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba and Alex Scott of Bournemouth, while Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni remains Michael Carrick’s ‘dream’ target.

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