Last week, Brentford confirmed they’d reached an agreement with Club Brugge for Igor Thiago to arrive at the club in the summer.
The striker has starred for the Belgian club this season, scoring 26 goals and registering four assists from 41 games. He wasn’t able to help his side seal three points in the derby clash against Cercle Brugge on Sunday.
Club Brugge manager Ronny Deila was asked about the deal agreed with Brentford for the 22-year-old.
“Whether there has been much discussion about it? No. When such offers come, it is usually fairly straight forward,” he told Sporza, relayed by Voetbalkrant.
“We can just be proud of what everyone has done for Igor. And him for us. I’m also happy that Igor will finish the season that still matters to us.”
The Jupiler Pro League side’s coach is of the belief that the Brazilian would want to finish his spell at the club on a brighter note, before moving to Brentford.
Het Belang van Limburg state the Belgian side collected a club-record fee of €37m from the Bees.
On Sunday, Thiago missed two big chances in his side’s 1-1 draw against Cercle Brugge and was also sent off towards the end of the tie. The newspaper suggests the hectic week due to the deal with Brentford may have thrown him off balance.
“I don’t know if it [the Brentford deal] had anything to do with it, but it was of course a very busy week for him. So, it could well be that he was a bit out of balance. It wouldn’t surprise me. He also had an issue in the family,” Deila said.
Club Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet refused to ‘blame’ the agreement with Brentford for the South American’s sending off.
“I don’t want to blame that transfer, that would be too simplistic. It is of course true that a lot has happened to that boy this week. I don’t think this gets stuck in his head,” Mignolet said, as quoted by HBVL.
“Of course, such a transfer has an impact on your football career and life. He has to learn to deal with that. But he is a hard worker and will definitely come back.”
