Pontus Jansson could be offered a new contract at Brentford as Premier League rivals consider a move for the Sweden defender.
Leicester, Newcastle and Everton are reported to be interested in signing Jansson during the January transfer window, but Bees boss Thomas Frank is determined to keep his club captain.
Jansson is out of contract at the end of the season and, when asked if he will be offered a new deal, Frank said: “You never know. It’s just been Christmas so maybe!
“The last time I looked he was our player. Without naming too many players who will be playing against Aston Villa on Sunday, I’m pretty sure that he will start.
“He’s our club captain and we’re very pleased with him. This is his best season so far and that’s remarkable after stepping up to the Premier League.
“He’s played at a very high, stable level. The last two years he’s been hit by more injuries, but he’s in the form of his life.”
Villa’s visit to the Brentford Community Stadium will complete a busy festive schedule of four games in 12 days, but Frank insists his team, who were promoted from the Championship last season, have taken it in their stride.
“We’ve done this for the last two years in the Championship. Last year it was even more,” he said.
“We played 11 games so it was basically Saturday, midweek, Saturday, midweek, for 11 games in a row.
“Of course as a coach you’d prefer Saturday to Saturday – more time, more details. But we know this and we love to play games. I love the Christmas programme, I think it’s fantastic.
“The thing I would say is that I understand when some managers talk about there being only one day between games, I think that is too little.
“Two is fine, we’ve done that a lot of times, but one is simply…I don’t understand it basically.”
Brentford have accumulated 20 points as they near the halfway stage of the league campaign.
“With injuries and Covid, it’s remarkable the number of points that we’ve got. If you look at the performances we could have had even more,” Frank said.
“I have such big ambitions and am such a big believer in this club and this team. But I try to get away from thinking about the table.
“Instead, I look to maximise every single minute we have on the training pitch and in games because that gives us the opportunity to finish as high as possible.”
