Kevin Schade's form has brought fresh transfer interest and contract talks, but Brentford may have more to lose than gain by selling him in January.
Kevin Schade's first five Premier League games have made Brentford's contract talks feel more urgent. They should not make a January sale feel more sensible.
Reports this week that initial discussions have taken place over a new long-term deal, with Arsenal and Liverpool among the clubs to have shown the strongest interest towards the end of the summer window. Chelsea and Tottenham have also reportedly tracked Schade, whose current Brentford contract runs until 2028.
The timing of the interest is hardly surprising.
Schade has started all five of Brentford's league games, played 448 of the available 450 minutes and scored three goals. Six of his nine shots have been on target, while his brace at Bournemouth was enough to earn a point in the match, where the Bees had been trailing 2-1.
He was subsequently nominated for September's Premier League Player of the Month award, having scored twice in three games during an unbeaten month for Keith Andrews' side. Brentford have not lost at all in the league, sitting fourth after their first five matches.
Andrews has been clear about where he stands.
"I would like to keep Kevin at the club," he said earlier this month when asked about reports of contract discussions.
"He's been very, very focused, has come back in a really good place and I think he's playing the best football, certainly since I've been in charge. He's a really important part of the group."
January is the problem.
The Bees do have alternatives in the wide areas. Jaidon Anthony has started three league games, Dango Ouattara has also featured from the start and Keane Lewis-Potter can play further forward.
Schade has still been the constant. Andrews has started him every week while changing other parts of the attack, and three of Brentford's ten league goals have come from him.
That makes selling him halfway through the season very different from dealing with his future next summer. Brentford would be taking a player out of a side that is working and then giving themselves one January window to decide whether the replacement already exists in the squad or needs to be bought.
His current form so far this season was always bound to create temptation from clubs around the league. Last season wasn’t overly poor by any means, but it was clear there was a lot more to come.
Schade scored eight Premier League goals last season and already has three this time around. If he continues at anything close to that rate, interest is unlikely to disappear. Equally, five games is five games. A quieter few months, an injury or simply a return towards last season's scoring rate could leave his value looking different by May.
That is the risk Brentford would take by waiting. There is another one in the contract. Schade is already inside the final two years of his deal, so reaching next summer without an extension would leave him with only 12 months remaining and likely a weaker negotiation stance. Clubs interested in him would know the Bees have less time to decide.
The obvious answer is to address that now. A new deal would give Brentford much more freedom over what happens next. It would not have to mean Schade staying for another four or five years, but it would put an end to the German winger heading towards next summer with just one year remaining on his contract.
Andrews' comments suggest he sees plenty still to come from him. Schade's work without the ball has always impressed, and the Brentford head coach recently pointed to the work he has been doing with the coaching staff on other parts of his game. Andrews said Schade currently has "a lot of belief and confidence", having returned for the new season in a good place.
The goals are now following. That is worth keeping around for a full season, particularly when Brentford have started it this well. They are unbeaten, fourth in the table and have already beaten Tottenham and Chelsea 3-0 at the Gtech. Brentford went into the final day of last season still with a chance of qualifying for Europe before eventually missing out, and keeping Schade would give them a better chance of staying in that conversation again this season.
By the summer, everyone will know whether Schade has turned five excellent games into an excellent season, how far Andrews has taken the team and whether the contract talks have gone anywhere.
If no new deal is agreed, they may have a genuine decision to make then.
January would come with all of the same questions about Schade's long-term future, only with Brentford also having to replace one of their most-used attackers in the middle of a season. Unless the offer becomes impossible to ignore, there is little reason to create that problem early.
