Selling Yoane Wissa was the 'right decision' for Brentford, says Phil Giles | OneFootball

The striker left on Deadline Day after publicly requesting a transfer

Brentford director of football Phil Giles suggested that selling Yoane Wissa to Newcastle was the best option for all parties after the striker publicly requested a transfer.

Newcastle earmarked Wissa as a replacement for Alexander Isak, but Brentford were not willing to sell after losing Bryan Mbeumo earlier in the window.

But Wissa forced Giles’ hand on Deadline Day, demanding a transfer in a social media statement and claiming he had been promised a move. He was eventually sold for £55m.

Giles said the statement complicated his position, but he feels he made the best decision for the club.

“Transfers are always complicated,” he began. “There is always a little bit of emotion, friction, and dialogue. Obviously, this one spilled out, which from my point of view is not ideal, but it happened and we had to manage that.

“We are dealing with human beings who have their own career, life, opportunity, and dreams to follow, but against that is a contractual position which needs to be respected.

“For me, fundamentally, when you have to make a decision about a transfer, complicated decisions which are impactful on the pitch and off the pitch, you need to stay focused on what is the right decision for the club.

“Every decision we make during the transfer window, we strip all the emotion out of it and focus on the right decision at this moment in time for the club overall, combining short-term need and long-term position and opportunity.”

Big shoes to fill: Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa

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It has been a summer of high turnover at Brentford. Long-time head coach Thomas Frank left to join Tottenham, while senior players in Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard, and Mark Flekken also departed.

Frank’s set-piece coach Keith Andrews has been promoted to the top job - his first full-time managerial post - while a group of young talent have been brought in to replace outgoing players.

For Giles, the summer of change presents an opportunity rather than a setback.

“There was a lot of change, certainly more than we would normally have, but with change comes opportunity. If you keep things constant and static, you’ll stay where you are.

“So change brings opportunity, whether that is short-term or long-term. If you look at it on a case-by-case basis, every player who left, albeit we lost some established players, we’ve tried to replace with equivalent players who are a good level now, and there is a big opportunity for them to develop and grow.

He acknowledged, however, that Brentford remain light in attack. Igor Thiago remains the only natural striker in the side after Wissa’s exit.

But with time, he thinks the side will only improve: “Offensively, it’ll take time to adapt and gel. I think we can be a bit better there but it’s not helped by two of the front three effectively being new in the team.

“Relationships need to be built, that will take a bit of time, players need to adapt. I think that provides opportunity as well.

“I see no reason why, as the season unfolds and Keith gets more time with the players and the coaches in general, that we’ll not get better and better at both ends of the pitch and can’t be really successful.

“It is an exciting time.”