Tottenham's new manager appointment, Thomas Frank, brings with him an air of optimism, even as the lingering distaste of the way Daniel Levy and Spurs handled Ange Postecoglou would have otherwise threatened to dampen the welcome wagon for the new coach.
Frank is one of the most respected up-and-coming managers in European football, having turned Brentford into legitimate contenders for continental football whie producing some of the Premier League's finest forwards of the last few seasons.
While Tottenham are indeed interested in at least one of those forwards - right winger Bryan Mbeumo - Frank also has his eyes on other Brentford stars who play in the midfield and defense and therefore go underrated in comparison to the forwards who are racking up the goals and assists.
Perhaps the most underrated of those players, defensive midfielder Christian Norgaard is coming off the best season of his career and has been one of Brentford's unsung stars over the past several seasons. The 31-year-old is comfortably an above-average Premier League defensive midfielder, which is more than can be said about some of the performances at the 6 that the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has seen over the past handful of years.
Brentford are putting their feet down
Although Frank is reportedly trying to bring Norgaard to Tottenham it doesn't look like a move will be able to materialize for Spurs. According to a report from Give Me Sport's Danny Rust and Dean Jones, Brentford are doing everything they can to hold onto Norgaard and view keeping him as a priority, to such an extent that they are expected to reject any and all overtures for the veteran midfielder.
It makes sense for Brentford to hold on dearly to an experienced pillar of their entire team, a foundational piece from which all good is created. Because assuming Brentford lose Bryan Mbuemo and one other star in addition to coach Thomas Frank and some of his assistants, the Bees will want to make sure they retain at least Norgaard in the middle of the park.
Tottenham will see this as a blow, of course, because Frank would surely love to have Norgaard as the pivot of the team. He could start initially and then later become a veteran bridge to an up-and-coming 6 that Spurs recruit.
Norgaard is coming off a career year for Brentford with 9 goal contributions from midfield, as well as a whopping 3.7 combined tackles and interceptions per game. His ability to shore up a team defensively with his work ethic, intelligent reading of the game, and leadership skills combined with his ability to provide additional end product would be ideal for Tottenham.
Norgaard is highly underrated and not the first name in everyone's mind when they think of Brentford standouts, but he is someone Spurs should continue to try and push to recruit. Seeing how valuable he is to Brentford, though, it's unlikely Tottenham would be able to get a favorable deal for him, though.