Euro 2024 man eyed by Brentford now wanted by relegated team

Recent Brentford trialist Stuart Armstrong has reportedly emerged on the radar of Sheffield United. The attacking midfielder is a free agent after cutting ties with Southampton at the end of last season.

The Bees played him in their pre-season outing against AFC Wimbledon. In this latest update regarding his situation, reporter Alan Nixon has claimed on his Patreon that the Blades are eyeing a potential move.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank has said: "Great experience, great player, great career and there is more in him there is no doubt about that. He has been training with us and a bit of helping each other. Him, to get him to a good level, and for us, we have another good player in and that is the plan so far."

The London club need to decide whether to hand him a deal or not though. If they opt against a move, the door could open for other teams such as Sheffield United to swoop in.

Chris Wilder’s side are preparing for the start of the new season after their relegation to the Championship. They finished in the bottom three along with Burnley and Luton Town and will be targeting an immediate return to the top flight.

Southampton made the tough choice to cut ties with Armstrong in late June. He helped them go up in the last campaign following their play-off final win over Leeds United at Wembley and has since been at Euro 2024 with Scotland.

Their manager Russell Martin said last year: “I really love Stuey as a person, he’s highly intelligent and a brilliant footballer, but you can only really show that when you have the opportunity to do that and you’re in a good place with yourself, where you feel valued and like an important part of things."

Armstrong played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle before joining Dundee United as a youngster in 2008. He then broke into their first-team as a youngster before signing for Celtic.

The Saints lured him down to England in 2018 and he was a good servant to the Hampshire club. The Inverness-born man played 214 matches for them in all competitions and chipped in with 25 goals.

In other Brentford news, key attacking pair Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa can’t wait for the new season to begin. The latter has told the club website: “We just want to have a good journey together. We have a similar mindset: a football career is short and we just want to enjoy every minute.

“Even when it’s tough sometimes, we will always encourage each other to keep going and to be happy every day. But he is jealous of me sometimes… about everything! This morning, he came to me and said, ‘Oh your sliders are nice, I want the same!’. But, honestly, we are both easy, that makes a difference. 

“As well as that, we come from pretty much the same background and now we are both playing in Africa for DR Congo and Cameroon. I feel like that makes us enjoy this journey even more. Bryan is more than my team-mate, he’s my friend now. That’s the thing.”