Spanish news agency EFE today features an interview with Sergi Canos, who can’t hide his excitement following Brentford’s promotion to the Premier League.
The winger, who joined the Bees in a move from Norwich City in 2017, talked about the huge importance of finally having a successful campaign and clinching a place in the elite of English football.
“It means everything, because, without offending anyone, I’ve been in the Championship for a long time. Very long,” Canos told EFE (via Diario Libre).
“To be fighting last year, not being able to achieve it and this year to reach the same final… We want so much to be among the best, we have so much desire. Head to head against Manchester City, against Manchester United, against Leeds, against teams from above. Be at the first level. We have been working for it for a long time. There are fans who have not seen Brentford in the Premier. It is unique.”
He also talked about the difference between making his Premier League debut with Liverpool and now having the same chance with Brentford.
“I was 19 then and you’re making your debut and it’s a dream. You’ve been waiting for that moment for so many years. You are a child who’s given those ten minutes and you’re the happiest in the world. Then what happens? That you kill that child because they sell you next month. You go to a Championship team and that’s where my struggle to get back to the first level begins. It took me five years.”
EFE mentions that Canos could have left Brentford to go back to Spain, but chose to stay, and asks him what convinced him to stay at the Championship side.
“The project was that Brentford always improved. We all improved. I’ve been here for many years and I realised that each year we were going a little further and the ambitions were much higher. A clear example is that we have gone up, but now the real football begins, which we have to prove ourselves. That is the ambition that has drawn me to Brentford. It’s not just going up to Premier, it’s going up and staying.”
Now quizzed what it would cost to take him out of the club, he claims he’s not looking for a way out so soon.
“I hope to be here, but never say never because I don’t know what will happen in the future. I’m very happy where I am. I’ve been here a lot and my illusion is still intact. Something very big would have to happen so that I would not be here next season.”
Finally, asked if he knows any Brentford fans who’d seen the club in the First Division, Canos says he’s been in touch with some of them.
“The father of one of my neighbours is 90 years old and has been a Brentford fan for 80 years. Since he remembers, his father took him to games. The other day I gave him my shirt so he could watch the Wembley final on TV and he was telling me that he had seen Brentford in the First Division. He told me that once they were going to watch a game they saw one of the players in the pub before the game having a pint and he told me how things have changed. That was more than 70 years ago! They are very proud of us.”
