New Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has already made his thoughts on two Spurs players clear by trying to sign them for Brentford in the past.
The appointment of Frank as Spurs' new head coach was confirmed on Thursday. The Danish manager has taken over from Ange Postecoglou on a three-year contract after Daniel Levy activated the £10million release clause in his contract.
Frank's impressive tenure at the Gtech Community Stadium lasted nearly seven years, with some of his assistant coaches now set to join him in his move to north London.
As he prepares for Champions League football, Frank will be keen to quickly identify his key players and bring in new signings of his choice. And the 51-year-old will be delighted to now work with two players he nearly brought to Brentford in recent years.
Frank and Brentford had shown long-standing interest in Brennan Johnson during his stint with Nottingham Forest in the Championship. They had several bids rejected by Forest in the January window of 2022.
Brentford made another strong push to sign Johnson in the summer of 2023, with Frank viewing the then-22-year-old as a crucial part of his plans for the 2023/24 season following an eight-month ban for Ivan Toney.
The west London club reportedly had a £40m offer turned down, having fallen short of Forest's £50m asking price. Spurs eventually secured Johnson's signature by paying £47.5m to the east Midlands club before the summer transfer deadline.
Spurs managed to outmanoeuvre Frank's Brentford once again last summer by signing Archie Gray from Championship side Leeds United. The versatile youngster was on the verge of joining the Bees in a £40m deal before it fell through, as Leeds were dissatisfied with the structure of the deal proposed by Brentford.
That allowed Tottenham to swoop in and sign Gray from under Frank's nose. The 19-year-old featured prominently in the 2024/25 season, making 46 appearances across all competitions, primarily as a centre-back.
Gray will be aiming to progress further from August under Frank, who will now oversee his development - a year after missing out on him.
Frank is also eager to reunite with his star player from his time at Brentford, Bryan Mbeumo, with Tottenham initiating talks over a deal for the Cameroonian forward with their London rivals.
Mbeumo is one of the most in-demand Premier League players in this summer's transfer window following an outstanding season at Brentford, during which he netted 20 top-flight goals and provided seven assists.
After enjoying his most prolific campaign to date under Frank, the 25-year-old has become more intrigued by a Spurs move now, having been linked with Manchester United in recent weeks.
Mbeumo joined Brentford from French club Troyes six years ago for a then-record fee of £5.8m. Fast forward to the current transfer window and he's the subject of huge bids from both the Red Devils and Spurs.
United have had an offer of around £55m turned down by Brentford. And the Mirror report that Spurs' technical director Johan Lange has made the first official move towards reuniting Mbeumo and Frank, proposing a £65m deal plus £5m in add-ons to secure the Cameroon international.