I think most clubs are by default, yeah, but Brentford actually embrace it. Where many club's fans are pissed off when their best player goes, there seems to be more of an inevitability about it at Brentford. They have a young Finnish striker, Marcus Forss who was at Wimbledon last season and they got from WBA for nothing, he'll be the next to go. I think their vetting and scouting process is incredibly rigourous, it's like every player they bring in slots into the first team or goes on to make them a profit, even the ones that go for less than a million quid.
But that wasn't my point, keeping them afloat and being successful are two very different things. Benham invested in the club as early as 2007 as part of a Supporter's Trust, but the catalyst for their rise was when he took over as owner, allowing loans and purchases from his other club to bolster their squad and start making profit. Before then they were reliant on free transfers and randoms.
Forss does look very good. Josh DaSilva and Norgaard will be the big ones next summer I feel too along with Raya in goal. They'll all fetch decent fees and they still got Benrahma and Mbeumo
Raya I think will leave this window (Chelsea missed a trick signing him), Palace want him to replace Guaita. Celtic and Lyon also looking at him. Not sure what happened to Sergi Canos, maybe Benrahma coming in has stifled his chance but he looked a player a couple of seasons ago.
Their highest transfer fee in their promotion season to the Championship was £400k for Jake Bidwell from Everton. In the seasons before that they paid pittance or got free transfers. The money he put in stabilised the finances, but he didn't start putting serious money into transfers until he was the owner.
In fact, Benham’s financial commitment to Brentford was up to £76 million as at June 2015. The long-term aim is clearly to create a sustainable club, but for the time being its ability to maintain a competitive challenge in the Championship is almost entirely reliant on the owner’s generosity. and that’s what all clubs would love to have a fan owner who puts his own money in
Oh I'm not saying his money wasn't a factor in their foundation or rise, but I was referring to their change in set up upon him taking over, because once he became the full time owner the club changed significantly. If he went away, they'd lose the contacts they have abroad and would probably start going South.
I'm sure I read somewhere that they're now debt free after selling Griffin Park and they've got a lovely new stadium albeit with peculiar seats
