Football London

Arnaud Kalimuendo is the latest player to be linked with a transfer to Tottenham. After a quiet start to the summer window in terms of incomings, Spurs made a big move on Sunday as they confirmed the permanent addition of Mathys Tel.

The 20-year-old has penned a six-year deal in north London after his initial loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the remainder of last campaign. Tel could make a big impact under new head coach Thomas Frank and the Dane will be hoping that a few more arrivals are finalised ahead of the club's tour of Hong Kong and South Korea.

Tel's signing adds to the final third options at Frank's disposal and there may well be a bit more movement in that area of the pitch over the coming weeks. As things stand right now, there are question marks over what the future holds for Son Heung-min, Richarlison and Manor Solomon.

Tottenham will definitely need to look at bringing in a new striker if Richarlison is to move on after three difficult years in the capital. That is where Kalimuendo comes in.

The Rennes ace finished as the third-highest goalscorer in Ligue 1 last term after netting 17 times in 33 games. Kalimuendo has seen his numbers grow season on season at Rennes after scoring seven goals in the 2022/23 campaign and 10 in 2023-24.

Coming through Paris Saint-Germain's system and later spending two seasons on loan at Lens before his permanent move to Rennes, Kalimuendo could be in line to depart Roazhon Park this summer after his goalscoring heroics. Speaking in a recent interview with L'Equipe, Rennes president Arnaud Pouille stated: "He is one of the players who had a lot of contacts in January. We have authorised him to speak with other clubs."

A reported €30 million (£26million) fee has been mentioned, with Newcastle United and Bayer Leverkusen linked with the France Under-21s international recently. The two clubs may now be involved in a three-way battle for the striker as French publication L'Equipe claim that Tottenham are expected to step up their pursuit of the 23-year-old.

If Spurs are to indeed launch a move for the Suresnes-born player then they have three secret weapons to help get a deal over the line. Firstly, Kalimuendo is a former teammate of Djed Spence at Rennes.

Amid his struggles for regular first-team football at Tottenham under Antonio Conte, the right-back headed to Rennes on loan for the remainder of the season in January 2023. Spence played 10 games for Rennes during his loan spell, with Kalimuendo playing in all of the matches he featured in.

Two other Tottenham players who could potentially help convince the frontman to head to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are Tel and Wilson Odobert. The duo have played at international level together, most notably at Under-21s level.

Back in March, the trio were all involved as France Under-21s won 4-0 away at Slovakia. Tel and Kalimuendo were paired up front and they ran riot as they scored a brace apiece in the convincing win.

The latter also got an assist to his name as he teed up the Tottenham man for his second of the game in the 23rd minute. If Tottenham move for Kalimuendo and they are successful, Tel and the Rennes star already appear to have a bond on the pitch that could work wonders for Frank and his new team going forward.

Daniel Levy has described relieving Ange Postecoglou of his duties as an emotionally difficult decision, but believes it was right for Tottenham Hotspur.

The club's chairman has belatedly commented on the change of head coach ten days after the Australian's departure. There were no quotes from Levy or anyone else when announcing the move earlier this month.

Instead, their statement mentioned that "the Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place." There were again no comments less than a week later when announcing the appointment of Thomas Frank.

Levy and the club's new chief executive, Vinai Venkatesham, have since conducted a joint interview, which Spurs uploaded to their YouTube channel on Tuesday. Its description states both "comment on the key football decisions made since the end of last season".

"I'm very grateful to Ange; I don't regret appointing Ange," Levy said. "In his first season, we finished fifth, and in our second season, we were over the moon to win the [ Europa League ] trophy, but we need to compete in all competitions, and we felt that we needed a change.

"I've got an excellent relationship with him; I've told him 'you're always going to be part of our history'. [He] and his family are always welcome back.

"It was a collective decision, [it] wasn't my decision; we do everything together. Emotionally, it was difficult, but we believe we've made the right decision for the club."

Addressing the appointment of Frank, the chairman said: "Whenever you have a new coach, it's always a fresh start; [they] always have different ideas. But we want to build on the success of winning a trophy last season.

"The things that stood out to me with Thomas [are that he's] clearly highly intelligent, [a] great communicator, [a] super human being, plus, all the other technical aspects that are obviously important. But they really stood out to me, those three parts."

Netherlands international Xavi Simons has told RB Leipzig that he wishes to leave the club this summer, as rumours continue to circulate about a potential move to Tottenham.

Reports on Sunday emerged that Spurs have a 'genuine interest' in signing Simons, as Thomas Frank tries to strengthen his squad ahead of the 2025/26 season. Talks have not started and a bid hasn't been placed, but a move to north London could be 'one to watch' in the near future.

Simons has been at Leipzig since 2023, first on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, before making the £42.6million permanent move in January 2025. Since arriving at the German side, the 22-year-old has scored 21 goals and provided 23 assists in 76 matches across all competitions.

But Leipzig have just suffered their worst season since promotion to the Bundesliga in 2016, having finished seventh and failing to qualify for any European competition.

Now, according to The Athletic, Simons has informed Leipzig that he would like to leave in the summer transfer window. The Dutchman believes that he has reached the end of his development at the Red Bull Arena.

Leipzig, meanwhile, accept that this might be the right moment to sell Simons, who has two years left on his contract, but are determined to resist offers below £59.7m.

Speaking to Sky in Germany about his future in April, Simons said: "I'm still a young player, I have many dreams and the club knows that. But right now, the most important thing for me is to play well in the upcoming games."

Tottenham are looking to bolster their squad after securing qualification for the Champions League. Although Spurs finished 17th in the Premier League, they won the Europa League and are set to return to Europe's elite club competition for the first time in three years.

That wasn't enough, however, for Ange Postecoglou to keep his job. Tottenham confirmed the dismissal of the Aussie earlier this month, with Frank then announced as his replacement. Spurs paid £10m to secure Frank's services from Brentford, and he has signed a three-year deal in north London.

We are now just a matter of hours away from the release of the 2025/26 Premier League schedule. Next season's fixtures for all 20 clubs will be confirmed at 9am on Wednesday, June 18.

A date in the calendar all football fans look forward to, all eyes will be on the opening round of fixtures that will be played over four days from Friday, August 15. After Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town all returned to the Championship at the first time of asking, the trio of clubs have been replaced in the top flight by Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland.

All 20 teams will go into the new campaign with big aspirations as they look to give their fans a season to remember. For Tottenham, the start of the new term will see Thomas Frank's Spurs revolution get underway.

Fresh from winning the Europa League and parting with head coach Ange Postecoglou, the north London club face a big year as they look to really kick on after finishing in a disappointing 17th position. A kind first batch of games would certainly suit the Dane down to the ground as he bids to make the perfect start to life at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after departing Brentford.

Ahead of the fixtures being released at 9am on Wednesday, football.london used a fixture simulator to determine the opening six rounds of games. According to the simulator, Tottenham were dealt some tricky fixtures in their first six matches of the season.

A tough away day at Leeds United was first up for Frank and his new side, before Spurs entertain West Ham in a London derby in their first home match of the term. The Lilywhites were then given the bonus of a second successive home fixture with Everton making the trip to N17.

Tottenham then had away days at Wolves and Newcastle United either side of a challenging home fixture against Aston Villa. In terms of other key dates in the calendar from football.london's simulation, the first North London Derby of the season takes place at the Emirates Stadium in gameweek 10 and then Frank comes up against former club Brentford in gameweek 12.

Below, we list the simulated Premier League fixtures in full for the opening six weeks of the campaign.

Simulated fixtures for first six gameweeks of 2025/26 Premier League season

Gameweek 1

West Ham vs Crystal Palace

Leeds United vs Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal vs Brentford

Nottingham Forest vs Everton

Fulham vs Manchester City

Burnley vs Wolves

Bournemouth vs Sunderland

Liverpool vs Aston Villa

Manchester United vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Chelsea vs Newcastle United

Gameweek 2

Tottenham Hotspur vs West Ham

Brentford vs Crystal Palace

Everton vs Leeds United

Manchester City vs Arsenal

Wolves vs Nottingham Forest

Sunderland vs Fulham

Aston Villa vs Burnley

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Bournemouth

Newcastle United vs Liverpool

Chelsea vs Manchester United

Gameweek 3

West Ham vs Brentford

Tottenham Hotspur vs Everton

Crystal Palace vs Manchester City

Leeds United vs Wolves

Arsenal vs Sunderland

Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa

Fulham vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Burnley vs Newcastle United

Bournemouth vs Chelsea

Liverpool vs Manchester United

Gameweek 4

Everton vs West Ham

Brentford vs Manchester City

Wolves vs Tottenham Hotspur

Sunderland vs Crystal Palace

Aston Villa vs Leeds United

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Arsenal

Newcastle United vs Nottingham Forest

Chelsea vs Fulham

Manchester United vs Burnley

Bournemouth vs Liverpool

Gameweek 5

Manchester City vs West Ham

Everton vs Wolves

Brentford vs Sunderland

Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa

Crystal Palace vs Brighton & Hove Albion

Leeds United vs Newcastle United

Arsenal vs Chelsea

Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United

Fulham vs Liverpool

Burnley vs Bournemouth

Gameweek 6

Wolves vs West Ham

Sunderland vs Manchester City

Aston Villa vs Everton

Brighton & Hove Albion vs Brentford

Newcastle United vs Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea vs Crystal Palace

Manchester United vs Leeds United

Liverpool vs Arsenal

Bournemouth vs Nottingham Forest

Burnley vs Fulham

There is renewed optimism at Tottenham Hotspur this summer after the appointment of Thomas Frank as head coach and a campaign in the UEFA Champions League to look forward to.

For a club that finished one place above the relegation zone in the Premier League last season with a staggering bad record of 22 defeats, the Europa League triumph may not have been enough to save Ange Postecoglou’s job, but it was enough to salvage this coming season, with Spurs now able to provide Frank with greater financial flexibility in the transfer market thanks to access to Champions League revenues that will be at least £50m but potentially double that.

There is a significant amount of work to be done to reshape the Spurs squad, and Frank will have his own ideas around the kinds of player needed for him to implement the game plan he wants. That requires funds.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, opened in 2019, has long been trumpeted as the club’s greatest asset, and is because it absolutely is. The club’s decision to press on with a £1.2bn build while others pondered has meant they completed it pre-pandemic and at a cheaper cost of borrowing. They are ahead of many of their rivals in terms of what they now have, and ‘sweating the asset’, to use a business parlance, is very much part of the plan.

On Monday night, music superstar Beyonce finished the last of a six-night run at Spurs’ stadium, bringing her Cowboy Carter Tour to sell-out crowds. It is the second time that she has performed a series of tour dates at the stadium, and there is a reason for that.

"It’s a really competitive market," said Donna-Marie Cullen, former executive director at Spurs, speaking at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit in London last year, where football.london was present .

"Venues tend to have their own sweet spot. So, Wembley, if you are Taylor Swift you know that you will sell out two nights, so you’ll probably do Wembley. Beyonce probably could’ve done that but she preferred to do five nights, she preferred the more intimate setting that our stadium gives.

“In fact, that turned out to be the highest-grossing concert ever for any female artist. She made £42.5m for five nights at the stadium.

“Beyonce was a bit of a tipping point, actually.

“The stadium operates a bit of a sweet spot in the market in terms of the size and how you can construct it for concerts, so we do boxing, we do concerts, rugby, NFL, visitor attractions, conferences, and events and we are about to start building a hotel.”

Given what the five-night run in 2023 delivered, Beyonce likely pocketed some £50m plus from the six nights at the stadium this time around.

For Spurs, though, it will have also been a lucrative affair, potentially worth between £15m and £20m for the club when all is said and done.

Out of calendar events are lucrative for clubs who own their stadiums. The process is that promoters will pay an agreed flat fee for use of the stadium to host artists, with the club to be entitled to some of the sale of merchandise, hospitality suites and food and beverage sales.

Spurs earn around £750,000 to £800,000 per matchday from food and beverage, and with six nights of paying customers buying food and drink, and a slice of some merchandise sales, it is a lucrative summer business for Spurs. The total is a rolling figure for each night and calculated at the end of each evening’s performance.

For Spurs, another successful stint for one of the world’s biggest music artists, and others to perform this summer such as Kendrick Lamar, should be instructive as to how the stadium will continue to grow, and how valuable it will be to the club in being able to continue to generate revenue and cash flow during the summer period which, in turn, aids how much they can put to work on the pitch.

There is a gig economy, and Spurs, with a near 63,000 capacity stadium in one of the world’s most famous cities with good, pre-existing transport links and the ability to host 30 non-football events per calendar year, are so far ahead of the Premier League pack that it’s hard to see that gap closed any time in the next decade, even if Manchester United’s 100,000 seater stadium vision comes to reality.

Artists are understood to like the intimacy that Spurs provides despite the size of the arena, not an easy balance to strike, and that means that they are on the hitlist of most major artists when it comes to planning tours.

For Frank, more Beyonce means more money for new additions, and with Champions League money forthcoming this season, there is likely to be a far more bullish approach to the market.

Tottenham are likely to be busy in the summer transfer window now it has reopened and they have a new head coach in place.

While many of Spurs' Premier League rivals have already made their mark in the transfer market, the wait to see first if Ange Postecoglou would be sacked and then who would replace him in N17 meant Tottenham have been slow to get moving when it comes to signings.

Kevin Danso's loan was made permanent, as per the Lilywhites' obligation with Lens, while Mathys Tel's loan from Bayern Munich was also made permanent after new head coach Thomas Frank's input.

New signings may be few and far between but some players have already left the club. Alfie Whiteman, Fraser Forster and Sergio Reguilon departed at the end of their contracts in N17, while Timo Werner returned to RB Leipzig following the end of his loan spell.

But there was another confirmed departure in the club's player update statement at the end of May when their retained list was announced - that of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Hojbjerg actually departed the club last summer, making the move to Marseille on loan for the season. But back in 2024, that loan deal had an obligation to buy attached to it.

Hojbjerg started 30 of Marseille's 34 matches this season, playing the full 90 minutes in all but two of those. He scored two goals in the league, adding another in the French Cup, and laid on four assists.

He was a key cog in Robert de Zerbi's side who finished as the best of the rest as runners-up to Paris Saint-Germain, qualifying for next season's Champions League.

Hojbjerg was due to be out of contract at Spurs at the end of June, but in sending him on loan to Marseille, Tottenham negotiated a fee for the midfielder, with the French side due to pay £17million to sign the Dane permanently.

Tottenham had signed Hojbjerg from Southampton in 2020 in a £15million deal. The £17million sale, despite him coming to the end of his contract, is something of a masterstroke on Daniel Levy's part, not only getting that much money for him, but also making a profit on the Danish midfielder.

Thomas Frank and Tottenham are now less than 24 hours away from discovering their 2025/26 Premier League schedule. It will once again be the start of a brand new era at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after the club elected to part with Ange Postecoglou and replace him with the Dane.

Frank made a huge name for himself during his time at Brentford and he fully deserves the opportunity to test himself at a bigger club. The 51-year-old will be hoping for a kind start to his Tottenham tenure when the new season's fixtures are released at 9am on Wednesday, June 18.

The new season commences on Friday, August 15, with the opening weekend games set to be spread over four days and draw to a conclusion on Monday, August 18. So what would be the best and worst case scenarios for Frank and Tottenham in his first Premier League match in charge? football.london takes a look below.

Best case

Brentford

It wouldn't be a surprise if the fixture computer threw up an early Brentford reunion for Frank. Having spent so long at Brentford and played a pivotal role in their incredible rise, it may be written in the stars that the Dane comes face-to-face with his former club very early on in the season.

Whereas some may see it as a game where he could quite easily slip up, it may be better for Frank and Brentford to go toe-to-toe early on. After all, he knows their players inside out, star men such as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa may no longer be at the club and his exit could have a major impact on the team.

Promoted club at home

Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland are back at England's top table after successful 2024/25 seasons in the Championship. All eyes will be on who the trio get on the opening day.

A home game against either would suit Tottenham but away fixtures perhaps wouldn't be the ideal start. The trio, who will still be riding the promotion high, would be looking to get off to the best possible start and would be backed by raucous home crowds on the opening weekend.

Sunderland or Burnley would probably be the pick for many from the promoted clubs.

Bottom-half rival at home

The 2024/25 Premier League season was one to forget for Tottenham as they finished 17th. Spurs could have finished as high as 14th on the final day of the campaign but they lost against Brighton & Hove Albion and other results went against them.

As it was fairly close in the standings between themselves Wolves, Manchester United and West Ham, an opening day fixture against one of the aforementioned sides may suit them, especially if it is at home. Everyone hopes for a home game on the opening weekend and Spurs will be keeping their fingers crossed that is the case come fixture release day.

Chelsea

You may question why Chelsea are in this category given Spurs' dire record against them but there is a very good reason. The Blues are taking part in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup this summer and they could be playing matches into the middle of July if they are to reach the latter stages of the competition.

As a number of players may have gone straight into international action after the Premier League season had ended before then heading to the Club World Cup, it remains to be seen what their fitness levels will be like come the opening day of the Premier League season. Enzo Maresca does have a large squad at his disposal, though, and will be able to rotate if required.

It may in fact be a good time to play Chelsea rather than wait until later in the season when they are up to full speed.

Worst case

North London Derby

You don't tend to see rival teams pitted against each other in a huge derby on the opening weekend of the season. A match against Arsenal is the last thing Spurs would want given their disastrous record against them recently.

The Gunners look set to make some notable moves in the transfer market and they will be keen to get off to the best possible start after once again missing out on a trophy. It would be some fixture if Tottenham and Arsenal were to open the season against each other.

Liverpool

Liverpool are another team Tottenham will want to avoid at all costs in their first Premier League fixture of 2025/26. The Reds cruised to only their second ever Premier League title and they hit Tottenham for five at Anfield on the day they were officially crowned champions.

Spurs do not fare well at Anfield and they will be desperate to avoid meeting them first up.

Tough away day

The last thing Tottenham will want in their first game of 2025/26 is a tough away day. Tottenham were wretched on the road across the 2024/25 season and only managed to win five of their 19 away fixtures in the league.

Given the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Newcastle United were so strong at home, Tottenham will not want to be travelling to one of those six teams.

Tottenham are now up and running in the summer transfer market after completing the permanent signing of Mathys Tel. Joining Spurs on loan from Bayern Munich in the January transfer window with the option to buy for £45.7million, the north London club negotiated a reduced transfer fee and wrapped up his signature in a deal worth £29.8million, plus a potential further £4.2million.

As Thomas Frank is now in place as head coach following Ange Postecoglou's dismissal, Tottenham transfer talk will no doubt start to ramp up over the coming days and weeks. Reports from L'Equipe in France claim that Tottenham are expected to step up their pursuit of Rennes striker Arnaud Kalimuendo.

Frank does have options in that position of the pitch but it remains to be seen what will happen with Richarlison this summer after three mixed seasons at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. So who exactly is Kalimuendo? football.london takes a look below.

Born in France in January 2002, Kalimuendo progressed through Paris Saint-Germain's academy and went on to make five senior appearances for the side from the French capital. His debut for the Parisians came in a 1-0 loss against Lens in September 2020.

Kalimuendo, who is a powerful and fast striker who links up well with his teammates, would in fact go on to join Lens the following month on a season-long loan deal, scoring eight goals in 30 appearances for the Ligue 1 club. The frontman impressed so much that he returned to Stade Bollaert-Delelis the following campaign on another season-long loan, this time hitting 13 goals in 35 appearances.

His Lens form duly saw him complete a €25million (£21million) move to Stade Rennes in 2022, who themselves had just lost Tel to Bayern Munich on a permanent deal a couple of weeks earlier. Kalimuendo did in fact get to play alongside Joe Rodon and Djed Spence for Rennes that campaign after the duo headed to the French club on loan from Tottenham.

In his first season for Les Rennais, the 23-year-old contributed with seven goals and five assists in his 38 appearances in all competitions. His final goal of the season came in a memorable 2-0 win away at former club PSG.

Since his debut campaign at Roazhon Park, Kalimuendo's goal tally has increased season on season after scoring 15 times in 2023/24 and 18 times last term. That in turn has seen him come to the attention of Newcastle United, Bayer Leverkusen and now Tottenham.

Utilised as striker for Rennes, there have been occasions where the attacker has instead operated from out wide. In a 3-0 win away at Angers at the end of March, Rennes boss Habib Beye played Kalimuendo on the right of a front three and it was a move that fully paid off as he scored twice and assisted Ismael Kone's goal.

"Arnaud has real strengths when it comes to evading pressure, especially with his first touch," explained Beye (via Ligue1.com). "I think those qualities come through more clearly when he plays on the right. He doesn’t lose pace there like he sometimes does on the left.

"He has the potential to score 20 goals in Ligue 1, maybe more. Arnaud is a major talent in this league. He just needs to keep pushing himself."

Kalimuendo, who is of Congolese descent, has represented France's youngsters at various levels on the international stage and he was also part of their squad for last year's Olympic games in Paris. After a fine season in Ligue 1 where he finished as the league's third-highest goalscorer, it would appear that the striker, who is out of contract with Rennes in 2027, is going to be on the move this summer, with a reported €30 million (£26million) fee mooted.

Speaking in a recent interview with L'Equipe, Rennes president Arnaud Pouille stated: "He is one of the players who had a lot of contacts in January. We have authorised him to speak with other clubs."

Kalimuendo has shown plenty of promise in his time with Lens and Rennes and he now looks on course to take the next step in his career. Given his age and attributes in his locker, there is still a lot more to come from Kalimuendo in the years ahead.

Alejo Veliz has been spending time at Rosario Central amid transfer speculation that the Argentinean club would like to re-sign the Tottenham Hotspur striker.

The 21-year-old signed from Rosario two years ago, but has only made eight appearances for Spurs, scoring once. Loan spells at both Sevilla and Espanyol in La Liga have not brought much success for the forward with only six appearances at the former and 29 at the latter, albeit mostly from the bench late on in games.

The young striker has a habit of heading back to his old club whenever he gets the chance and Rosario posted photos of Veliz in a club jacket with coaches and staff at the weekend with the caption: "Like every time he is on vacation, Alejo Véliz visited Arroyo Seco to watch this morning's friendlies against Central Córdoba."

Rosario reportedly have been keen to take Veliz back on loan but according to reports in Argentina, Tottenham want to sell the young forward this summer with doubts over his ability to stake a claim for a space in Thomas Frank's squad. Veliz has a long-term deal at Spurs until 2029 so they could get away with another loan, but they would likely want it to be one in Europe that raises his value.

The other problem for Veliz in trying to break through at Tottenham is that as a non-locally trained player he cannot be registered for European competition without another player missing out and in the Premier League squad he no longer qualifies for the U21s list as he was born before January 1, 2004.

That means Spurs would have to find room for a player who is yet to justify taking someone else's spot. It may end up being that Veliz has to be loaned out again as a permanent deal looks unlikely at this stage if Spurs want to recoup the £12million they spent on the player in 2023.

Claus Norgaard's exit from Brentford is not believed to be linked with a move to Tottenham to join Thomas Frank, football.london understands.

Frank was announced as Spurs' new head coach on Thursday evening with the club agreeing compensation to also take first team assistant coach Justin Cochrane, Head of Performance and first team assistant coach Chris Haslam and first team coach analyst Joe Newton with him from Brentford with first team assistant coach and set piece specialist Andreas Georgson joining after a spell at Manchester United.

On Monday it was announced that his former assistant coach Norgaard would also be leaving Brentford after three years at the club and while there were some links to Spurs, football.london understands that his departure is unconnected at this stage.

Frank is yet to finalise the rest of his coaching staff at Spurs with the futures of Matt Wells and goalkeeping coach Rob Burch to be clarified, while there have been some suggestions that U18s coach Stuart Lewis could also be given the possibility to have some role in the new first team set-up.

Norgaard is not expected to join Frank at this stage and he said on leaving the Bees: "I have loved my time at Brentford and leave with fond memories. I would like to thank Matthew Benham, Phil Giles, Lee Dykes, Ben Ryan and the players and staff for making this an enjoyable and rewarding chapter. There is such a strong culture and that has contributed greatly to a very successful period.

"Brentford will always have a place in my heart. I will look out for their results and wish everybody associated with the club the best of luck for the future."

Director of football Phil Giles added: "Claus has been with us for the last two and a half years and has played a major role in our success. In fact, in the three seasons Claus was a Brentford coach, we finished in the top half of the Premier League twice. That is the legacy he leaves at Brentford.

"Everybody at the club wishes him well in his next role and I’m sure he will be just as successful at whichever club is fortunate enough to employ him. He will always receive the warmest of welcomes at Brentford."