Brentford’s best Premier League signings of all time

Since they first earned promotion to the Premier League in 2021, Brentford's net spend has remained remarkably low compared to rival clubs in the English top flight due to a profitable player trading model.

Here, Football Whispers counts down Brentford’s five best signings of the Premier League era, with a key focus on value for money, pitch impact, and overall contribution to the club's transformation from 2021 to date.

5) Vitaly Janelt

Signed from VfL Bochum in 2020 for a fee of £500,000, Vitaly Janelt is the only one of Brentford's best Premier League signings on this list who is still active for the club at the time of writing.

Janelt arrived as a virtually unknown midfielder, but went on to become one of Brentford’s greatest transfer bargains.

Despite being signed for a nominal fee, the German player immediately inserted himself into Thomas Frank's midfield engine room and has grown by leaps and bounds ever since.

Known for his work rate, versatility (playing central midfield, defensive midfield, and even emergency left-back), and uncanny knack for scoring crucial late goals, Janelt provided the physical bite necessary for Brentford to survive and thrive in their current six-year top-flight run.

4) David Raya

David Raya spent four seasons at Brentford, and during this time frame, he revolutionised how the Bees played from the back.

The Spaniard’s distribution, quick reflex saves, and willingness to act as an extra outfield player were essential to Thomas Frank's tactical setup for the years it lasted.

Interestingly, Raya led all goalkeepers in both saves (154) and save percentage (77%) in the 2022-23 Premier League, becoming the only goalkeeper to top both categories in a single campaign in the competition since stats started being tracked in 2003-04.

His impressive showings for Brentford ignited interest from Arsenal and then led to a big-money move, one which brought a huge £30m sale for the Bees that summer.

3) Yoane Wissa

A product of the Chateauroux academy in France, Yoane Wissa's journey has been nothing short of remarkable.

Signed from Lorient in 2021 for a fee of £8.5m, Wissa was initially brought in as an energetic super-sub. However, he developed into a lethal attacking threat for the Bees.

Able to operate centrally as a striker and also as a winger, his versatility gave him an edge to score explosive goals against high-profile opposition (including memorable strikes against Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City).

While Jim Towers is Brentford's all-time top scorer in history with 163 goals, Wissa is the club's all-time top scorer in the modern Premier League era with 45 goals, surpassing club legend Ivan Toney, who once held the record.

2) Bryan Mbeumo

Bryan Mbeumo arrived in London as a 19-year-old talented winger and evolved into a world-class forward while on the books of Brentford.

The Cameroonian international is blessed with durability, direct running, clinical finishing, and set-piece delivery. These qualities earned him double-digit goals/assists records in the Premier League.

Following Ivan Toney's departure from the club, Mbeumo stepped into the primary goalscoring role, which resulted in his historic £71m transfer to Manchester United. Mbeumo is a Brentford legend, with a total of 70 goals and 47 assists across all competitions.

1) Ivan Toney

Brentford's best Premier League signing is none other than the towering Ivan Toney, who joined the club from Peterborough in 2020.

Although Toney joined when the Bees still played in the Championship, he became the indisputable benchmark for the club's modern transfer strategy.

Toney broke the Championship single-season scoring record with 31 goals in the 2020-21 season, leading the Bees to the Premier League through the playoffs for the first time.

In the English top tier, his hold-up play, penalty perfection, and 20-goal 2022-23 campaign propelled Brentford into a top-half finish and earned him a call-up to the English national team. He transformed Brentford into an established Premier League club before departing for £40m to Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League.