Brentford promotion failure could open up transfer options

Brentford forward Ollie Watkins can leave for £18m as a buyout clause which has been activated following Tuesday’s Championship play-off final defeat by Fulham.

The clause kicked in if Brentford missed out on promotion to the Premier League, the BBC have reported.

Crystal Palace along with a number of clubs including West Ham are said to be interested in the Devon-born 24-year-old, signed from Exeter in July 2017. Palace came close to signing Watkins last season, when the clause was £10m. Watkins scored 25 goals in 46 Championship games for Brentford this season.

Brentford are claimed to value Said Benrahma at around £35.5million and left-back Rico Henry at £10 million with all three linked with West Ham in the past few weeks.

Brentford are not desperate to sell and are one of the better run Championship clubs in financial terms within the second tier.

They recently announced a £20m profit for the financial year to the end of June 2019 off the back of player sales John Egan to Sheffield United and Chris Mepham to Bournemouth creating £27m profit.

The total commitment of Bees owner Matthew Benham to the club stands at £100.1m, of which £19.6m is secured loans on the development of the new ground.