Brentford recently purchased 18 year old striker Kaye Furo. The English club paid Belgian Club Brugge €10 million. Over the past few years, Brentford has become one of the top clubs in Europe in developing attacking players. There are many examples of Brentford purchasing young players for low sums of money, and then selling those same players at high prices. The club paid €29,32 million for four forwards on the above list. Brentford then sold them for €208,7 million. Thus the net profit on those purchases was €179,38 million. All data regarding transfers are based on Transfermarkt portal.
Ollie Watkins
Ollie Watkins – independent.co.uk
Brentford signed Ollie Watkins in 2017. At that time, the team paid €7.22 million to Exeter City, the team that recently lost 10-0 to Manchester City in the FA Cup. Prior to signing Watkins, Brentford was playing in the second English division. During his three seasons with the team, Watkins averaged 10+ goals per season while playing in the Championship. Watkins had a breakout season in 2019/2020, averaging roughly one goal per two games. In 46 Championship games, Watkins scored 25 goals. Additionally Watkins scored 1 goal in three playoff matches, however his team lost to Fulham in extra time (1-2). Despite losing in the playoffs, Watkins received an automatic promotion. Afterward, Aston Villa offered the striker a chance to move up to the Premier League. Aston Villa paid €34 million for Watkins, which is roughly 5x what Brentford originally paid.
Bryan Mbeumo
Bryan Mbeumo – independent.co.uk
The African was brought in by Brentford in 2019. Brentford paid €6.5 million to Troyes for Mbeumo. At that time, Mbeumo had scored 12 goals in 46 matches for the French club. Mbeumo did not play regularly for Troyes in Ligue 1 as he mostly played in the reserve squad. However, once he joined Brentford, Mbeumo became a regular starter. From that day on, Mbeumo would go on to play 242 matches for the English club. Of note, Mbeumo’s first and last season with the English club were also his most successful.
During his first season with Brentford, Mbeumo had a breakout season, scoring 15 goals in 42 Championship matches. Mbeumo’s final season with the English club saw the African share the 3rd spot in the Premier League’s Top Scorer award with 20 goals in 38 matches. Following his success with Brentford, Mbeumo moved to Manchester United. The English club received €75 million for their player. Whether or not Manchester United overpaid for the player is a different discussion. Regardless, Mbeumo is another example of the quality of Brentford’s youth development system.
Ivan Toney
Ivan Toney – independent.co.uk
Before joining Brentford, Ivan Toney was playing for Peterborough United. During the 2019/2020 season, Toney was playing in the third English division. While Toney was a standout performer in the division (scoring 24 goals in 32 matches), he earned a promotion. Brentford paid €5.6 million for Toney. Immediately upon arriving at Brentford, Toney showed that he could score in the Championship. He scored 33 goals in 48 Championship matches. The following season, Toney continued to perform in the Premier League, scoring 12 goals in 33 matches. The following season, Toney again scored 20 goals in 33 matches. Al Ahli noticed Toney and purchased him from Brentford for €42 million (the purchase occurred during the summer of 2024). Interestingly, Toney moved to Saudi Arabia after only scoring four goals in 17 Premier League matches in the 2023/2024 season. Toney missed 20 matches due to a betting scandal prior to moving abroad.
Yoane Wissa
Yoane Wissa – independent.co.uk
Wissa is another example of a French forward that Brentford purchased. In 2021 Brentford paid €10 million for Wissa. Yoane improved each of his seasons at Brentford. Last summer Brentford sold Wissa to Newcastle for €57.7 million. In his first two seasons with Brentford, Wissa scored 7 goals each in the Premier League, while in his third season with the club he scored 12 goals. Wissa’s most successful season came in the 2024/2025 season where he scored 19 goals in 35 Premier League matches. As a result, Brentford sold their two top scorers. Mbeumo moved to Manchester United while Wissa moved to Newcastle. Wissa left Brentford under a cloud. When asked why he wanted to leave, Wissa stated that the club management blocked his departure. The situation ultimately resulted in Wissa leaving the club regardless. Brentford received nearly six times the amount of money they paid Lorient for Wissa.
Last summer, Brentford spent a considerable amount of money purchasing forward Igor Thiago. Club Brugge received €33 million for the 23-year-old Brazilian. That is the second highest purchase in Brentford’s history. However, Thiago has been highly successful since joining Brentford. Thiago has scored 16 times this season in the Premier League, which is the second highest total in the league behind Erling Haaland. It will be difficult to rule out the possibility that next summer Brentford will sell Thiago for a considerably higher sum than they purchased him for. Maybe in some time Furo will join the list of forwards purchased by Brentford. The 18-year-old Furo appears to be a long-term signing.
