Colombian defender bid rejected
Brentford have reportedly had a £1.2 million bid to sign Sporting De Gijon defender Bernardo Espinoza rejected.
Sporting, currently third in the Liga Adelante (Spanish 2nd division), value the Columbian player much higher and are determined to keep their man.
Bentley not to Bee; McAleney to head South?; Bees sign QPR midfielder
Brentford have also reportedly had a £500k for Southend keeper Daniel Bentley rejected according to various sources. Southend have denied any bid had been placed.
This news comes just a week after Jack Bonham signed a new deal at the club – starting in the cup against Brighton.
Mark Warburton has indicated that there will be not much more business done in the January window for the Bees.
“We are close on one or two deals,” he told the Richmond and Twickenham Times.
“But we are in the top six, so we do not need major surgery. We just need a bit of fine tuning and we’ll see where we go.”
However, Beesotted have heard from contacts in Liverpool that they are striker Conor McAleney could make a return to Griffin Park as discussed on our podcast last week. The young Everton striker broke his leg in his first spell with Brentford two seasons ago.
Brentford however have signed Josh Laurent from QPR. The 19 yd old midfielder has signed an 18 month contract and joins Brentford’s academy.
Moore heads to Denmark
Brentford youngster Montell Moore is set to join FC Midtjylland on loan until the end of the season.
The Danish club is owned by Brentford owner Matthew Benham, and are currently top of the Danish Superliga.
The striker, who recently denied a charge of handling stolen goods, will be handed an opportunity of possibly getting some playing time with the Danish side – as well as settle himself in a fresh environment, removing himself distractions and allowing him to concentrate on his football.
Bumper Brighton crowd
Brighton look set for a bumper crowd v Brentford this weekend.
With Bees fans snapping up their full allocation of 2300 tickets, Brighton allocated Bees fans another 450 tickets of which less than 70 remain as of Wednesday morning.
The match is Chris Hughtons’ first home game as manager. The crowd is expected to be close to Brighton’s two biggest crowds this season – 28,802 against Fulham (3,000 away fans) and 27,933 against Sheffield Wednesday.
Bees fans are reminded that trains to Brighton are disrupted that day. Buses from Three Bridges. Please allow extra time for your journey.
Bees fans have also been warned that no trains will be leaving Liverpool for Norwich on 24th January – all trains will be departing from Stratford (Jubilee Line, Central Line and overground). Further information can be found on the national rail website
Around the championship
Leon Best is rumoured to be signing for Nottingham Forest. The striker, on loan from Blackburn, has not been firing on all cylinders at Derby and Forest are rumoured to step in to try and rescue his career.
Derby have taken a leaf out of Brentford’s book and looked to Spanish club Eibar to sign defender Raul Albentosa.
According to Spanish journalist Guillem Balague, Detby beat off a hatful of clubs to sign Albentosa.
“Steve McClaren convinced Gaizka [Mendieta] to leave Lazio to go to Middlesbrough and now he has just done the same for him [Albentosa] to leave Eibar.
“He [Albentosa] had about 12 offers but out of all of them, McClaren convinced him to go Derby.”
If ex-Eibar player Jota is anything to go buy, Albentosa will be a quality addition to the Derby side.
Leicester City are closing in on a deal for Scotland international Shaun Maloney after meeting Wigan’s £1mill valuation for the winger.
Benik Afobe has officially signed to Wolves from Arsenal for a fee rumoured to be £2m. The striker, who has scored 18 goals this season, was pulled from his loan spell at MK Dons aka Franchise FC to complete the deal.
It should be noted that Afobe scored 10 league goals this season for the Buckinghamshire side – only one more than on-loan Brentford striker Will Grigg.