The 24-year-old defender was recently named as captain of Premier League side Brentford
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Tottenham Hotspur are believed to be considering a late summer move for highly-rated Brentford centre back Nathan Collins as the 1 September deadline draws closer.
The North London side had the second worst defensive record of any side outside the bottom three last year after conceding 65 times, but have already shown huge signs of improvement after keeping successive clean sheets in victories over Burnley and Manchester City.
However, despite adding Kevin Danso to provide further squad depth to the first choice partnership of Christian Romero and Micky van de Ven, it’s suspected Thomas Frank could dip back into the market to try and sign a centre back that he’s very familiar with from his time at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Tottenham are ‘huge admirers’ of Nathan Collins
Football transfer guru Graeme Bailey claims Tottenham are one of the clubs considering a late summer swoop for Republic of Ireland international Nathan Collins. Thomas Frank knows the player well from his time with Brentford and is credited with bringing the 24-year-old to the team for a then club-record fee of £23m back in the summer of 2023.
The former Wolves man played 32 league matches in his first season at the Gtech Community Stadium as the Bees finished in 16th position and was an ever present last term, playing every minute of every game as Frank’s side finished 10th and just nine points behind seventh placed Nottingham Forest.
Frank is yet to sign any players from his former club Brentford but is understood to be a massive admirer of Collins. When he first arrived at the club, Frank said: "He has a lot of very good abilities that we value a lot. He's a composed and calm defender. His heading in both boxes is a big thing, both in open play and from set-pieces, which is massive in the Premier League.
"His character is really good, and we know that character is everything. He will fit into our culture, I have no doubt about that. I see leadership potential in Nathan. He's a perfect Brentford player - hungry and ambitious with a desire to learn."
While in a more recent interview, he added, via Vavel: “This season he’s been going from a good performance to another good performance. I’m very pleased with him. As a character and a person, I understand why he was the captain of Ireland [versus Greece] – he’s got everything to be a good leader.
“He’s still young. 23? that’s nothing. I was baby when I was 23. Sometimes these footballers, we expect everything from them and that’s just because everyone’s filming and taking pictures. They’re young men at best, some of them young boys, and they are developing in a highly pressurised world. I think Nathan is on a really good track.”
Is Nathan Collins likely to leave Brentford this summer?
Brentford have had a turbulent summer since Thomas Frank’s departure which has seen set piece coach Keith Andrews replace him in the dugout. Meanwhile, club captain Christian Norgaard, goalkeeper Mark Flekken and top scorer Bryan Mbeumo have all moved onto pastures new. Second top scorer Yoane Wissa, who got 19 in the league, has also removed all mention of Brentford from his social media page as he continues to push for an exit to Newcastle United.
Brentford are keen to avoid any more sales as they look to beat the drop this season, and are particularly keen to retain Collins, who was only recently named club captain by new boss Andrews following Norgaard’s exit to Arsenal.
The decision has been universally praise by supporters, with one fan telling BBC Sport: “Collins is a great choice. Good leader from the back and always gives 100%. Talks to the team. A gentle giant to the younger players as well.” Another added: “Perfect choice, a natural captain.”
Collins has worked with Andrews throughout his time with the Republic of Ireland and is expected to be a huge player. The likelihood of a transfer seems slim. However, it’s worth noting that Graeme Bailey believes Tottenham and Liverpool are both ‘huge admirers’ of the defender as they aim to bolster their squads ahead of this year’s Champions League campaign.