Three play for Premier League clubs, but one was a MASSIVE flop 😬 The fourth, however, is now tearing it up in the Champions League

The story of football transfers is always full of surprises. Sometimes clubs sign players who become legends. Sometimes they spend huge money on players who fail. And sometimes the biggest stories are about the players that clubs almost signed but missed out on. Those missed opportunities can haunt clubs for many years, especially when those players go on to become superstars elsewhere.

This is exactly the type of story that has recently come out of Brentford Football Club. The owner of the club, Matthew Benham, has revealed that Brentford were very close to signing several players who are now among the most expensive and talked-about talents in world football. According to him, the club could have signed four different players who later moved for massive transfer fees. When the numbers are added together, those four players eventually cost their new clubs a combined total of £266.2 million.

For a club like Brentford, which has built its reputation on smart recruitment and clever data analysis, it is fascinating to hear that they were once so close to signing these players before they became famous. Some of those players are now stars in the Premier League. Others are playing in the Champions League. One of them even became a Bundesliga champion.

Matthew Benham has been the owner of Brentford since 2012. When he first took control of the club, Brentford were playing in League One, which is the third tier of English football. At that time the club did not have the money or global reputation of the Premier League giants. But Benham had a clear vision. He believed that smart use of data, good scouting and bold decisions could help Brentford climb up the football ladder.

Benham himself made his fortune through gambling and data modelling. He built successful companies that used statistical analysis to predict sports outcomes. That experience gave him a very different way of looking at football. Instead of relying only on traditional scouting or reputation, Brentford began using data and analytics to identify undervalued players.

This approach helped transform the club. Brentford slowly climbed through the leagues and eventually achieved promotion to the Premier League in 2021. Since then they have impressed many fans and experts with their fearless style of football and their clever transfer strategy.

Over the years Brentford have signed players for relatively small fees and later sold them for huge profits. Some of the most famous examples include Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, David Raya and Yoane Wissa. Each of these players arrived for modest transfer fees but later became stars and attracted interest from bigger clubs.

Because of this success, Brentford have built a reputation as one of the smartest clubs in the transfer market. But even the smartest clubs sometimes miss out on players who later become stars.

Speaking at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston, Matthew Benham openly admitted that Brentford had a few regrets. He revealed that the club had been very close to signing two players who are now big names in the Premier League.

The first player he mentioned was Eberechi Eze. At the time, Eze was a young and talented attacking midfielder who was still developing his career. Brentford had the opportunity to sign him for around £4 million in 2019. At that time the price seemed reasonable but the deal did not happen.

Looking back now, that decision seems like a missed opportunity. Eze went on to develop into one of the most exciting creative players in English football. His dribbling, creativity and ability to score important goals made him a star.

After leaving Queens Park Rangers, Eze joined Crystal Palace where he quickly became one of their most important players. His performances helped Palace achieve success and he even played a key role when the club won the FA Cup.

His talent eventually attracted interest from bigger clubs. In the summer transfer window he completed a huge move to Arsenal for £67.5 million. That transfer showed just how much his value had grown since the time Brentford could have signed him for only £4 million.

Benham also revealed that Brentford had the chance to sign another player at the same time. That player was Omar Marmoush.

Marmoush is an Egyptian forward who has developed into a dangerous attacking player. According to Benham, Brentford had the opportunity to sign Marmoush on a free transfer around three years ago. That means the club could have added him to their squad without paying any transfer fee.

However, the move never happened.

Since then Marmoush has gone on to build a strong reputation in European football. He impressed many fans during his time at Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany. His speed, movement and ability to score goals made him one of the most exciting attacking players in the Bundesliga.

Eventually his performances caught the attention of Manchester City. In 2025 the Premier League champions decided to sign him in a deal worth an initial £59 million. The total value of the transfer could rise to £63.2 million if certain bonuses are achieved.

When people hear this story today, it is easy to imagine how incredible it would have been if Brentford had signed both Eze and Marmoush. According to Benham, the club could have secured both players for a combined total of about £4 million.

Now those same players have moved for tens of millions.

But the story does not end there. Benham also revealed that Brentford were very close to signing two more famous players.

One of them was Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk. Brentford identified Mudryk as a talented player and came close to signing him for around €20 million. At the time that price seemed like a significant investment, especially for a club that had just been promoted to the Premier League.

Eventually the deal did not happen. Mudryk later moved to Chelsea in a massive transfer worth up to £89 million.

At first that seemed like another missed opportunity for Brentford. However, events later took a different turn.

Mudryk struggled to fully justify his huge transfer fee at Chelsea. During his time at the club he scored 10 goals and provided 11 assists in 73 appearances. Those numbers were not terrible, but they were not enough to convince many fans that he was worth such a massive investment.

Things became even more complicated when the Football Association charged him with violating anti-doping rules. Because of this situation he has not played since 2024.

Looking back now, Brentford might actually feel relieved that they did not complete the deal.

The fourth player Benham mentioned was Michael Olise.

Olise is a talented attacking midfielder who has quickly become one of the most exciting young players in Europe. Brentford’s scouts had identified him very early and were extremely impressed with his potential.

According to Benham, the scouting reports on Olise were incredible. He described them as “unbelievable” and “out of this world.” Brentford strongly considered signing him.

However, there was one major problem.

At the time Brentford had just been promoted to the Premier League. The club was still learning how the top level of English football worked, especially when it came to transfer negotiations and agent fees.

In Olise’s case the agent fees involved in the deal were extremely high. Benham explained that the cost of paying the agent alone was so expensive that Brentford decided to walk away from the deal.

It was a difficult decision. On one hand the transfer fee for the player was not unreasonable. But the agent’s demands made the overall deal too risky for Brentford’s budget at that time.

So Brentford decided not to sign Olise.

Soon after that, Crystal Palace completed the deal instead. Olise quickly became a star at Selhurst Park. His creativity, dribbling and eye for goal made him one of the most exciting young players in the Premier League.

Eventually Bayern Munich decided to sign him for £50.7 million.

Since joining the German giants, Olise has continued to impress. In just 91 appearances he has already scored 33 goals and provided 48 assists. Those are incredible numbers for an attacking midfielder.

He also helped Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga during the 2024-25 season.

When you add together the transfer fees paid by Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Bayern Munich for these four players, the total reaches £266.2 million.

That is an incredible figure.

For Brentford fans, it is fascinating to imagine how different the club’s history might have been if even one of those deals had been completed.

Imagine a Brentford team that included Eberechi Eze creating chances in midfield, Omar Marmoush attacking defenders with speed, Michael Olise providing assists and Mykhailo Mudryk adding explosive pace on the wings.

Such a team would have been full of talent and excitement.

However, football transfers are never simple. Every decision involves financial risks, negotiations, timing and sometimes pure luck.

Even the smartest clubs cannot sign every talented player they identify. There will always be players who slip through the net.

Matthew Benham himself acknowledged this reality during his talk at the conference. He explained that in football recruitment there will always be players you regret missing.

No scouting system is perfect. Even the best analysts and scouts must accept that some decisions will turn out to be wrong.

But what matters most is the overall strategy.

Brentford’s strategy has clearly been successful. Despite missing out on these four players, the club has still managed to build a competitive team and remain stable in the Premier League.

Their ability to find undervalued players and develop them into stars remains one of the most impressive stories in modern football.

Many bigger clubs with much larger budgets struggle to recruit players as effectively as Brentford.

So while these missed transfers may create interesting “what if” stories, they do not change the fact that Brentford’s model continues to work.

Football fans love to imagine alternate histories. What if a club had signed a future superstar earlier? What if a player had chosen a different team?

In Brentford’s case, the numbers show just how close they came to signing players who are now worth hundreds of millions.

Those stories remind us how unpredictable football can be.

A player who costs £4 million today might be worth £60 million tomorrow. A young talent playing in a small league might become a global star in just a few seasons.

For clubs like Brentford, the challenge is always to identify those talents early while balancing financial risk.

Sometimes they get it perfectly right.

Sometimes they miss out.

But that is the reality of football.

And as Matthew Benham’s story shows, even the smartest clubs in the game will always have a few transfers they wish had happened differently.