As far as recruiting goes, Brentford FC have made some cracking signings over the years, with Thomas Frank’s team going about their scouting slightly differently than others.
They have plucked some names out of darkness and turned them into efficient players, and they could do the same with Haissem Hassan, courtesy of L’Equipe.
The 21-year-old, who is currently playing for Villarreal’s B team (he has one appearance for the first-team to his name), is among those Brentford are looking at.
The French newspaper explain that with just one year left on his deal from this summer onwards, the forward is gathering interest ‘from many European clubs’.
Among those can be found RC Lens and Girondins de Bordeaux in France, Real Valladolid, Eibar and Alavés in Spain, while Brentford and Sunderland want him in England, accompanied by Udinese in Italy and Anderlecht in Belgium.
They reserve a specific mention for the Bees, as their data-driven scouting is what brought him to their attention, since Hassan was among the players with the ‘highest percentages of successful dribbles’ last year while on loan at CD Mirandés, and that’s why he ‘arouses their interest’
Over at Villarreal, it’s said that Quique Setién sees the player as the natural replacement to Samuel Chukwueze, which could put some spanner in any transfer works.
As for the right-winger himself, Hassan ‘isn’t closed to an exit’, but wants to ‘wait until the end of the season to decide which direction to give his career’.
