Focus on Nigerian midfielder Frank Onyeka as Arsenal Vs Brentford kicks of 2021/2022 Premier League campaign

While Arsenal will get the significant press mentions as Mikel Arteta attempt another rebuild, Nigerians will pay close attention to Brentford because of their new midfielder Frank Onyeka.

In the Nigerian midfielder, Thomas Frank has gone for a player who has developed well and played with fine consistency in the past three years at Danish club FC Midtjylland.

It was at the 2019/2020 season that he showed himself to be quite a player. He played everywhere in midfield for FC Midtjylland, covering lots of ground and defending well as a defensive midfielder and impressing with ball retention abilities and accurate passes when further up the midfield.

He was a revelation that season and dropped tremendous performances for FC Midtjylland in their run to the Danish league title.

The midfielder was rewarded with the club’s Player of the Year award that season.

He didn’t hit the same height last season and couldn’t stand out during their Champions League group stage run, including the two ties against Liverpool.

Yet he still showed how effective he was while shielding his side’s defence from midfield with the most tackles in the Champions League stage that season.

Brentford decided to splash the cash on him for their Premier League return.

There is a chance the move might have happened out of convenience as Brentford and FC Midtjylland have the same owners.

But the English side in recent years has shown that they don’t operate with convenience.

They are widely considered to be among the best-run and most financially sustainable clubs in England.

In just over a decade, their rise from League Two to the Premier League was due to astute recruitment with players signed cheaply, developed, and sold on for a significant profit.

The club would use data and mathematical software to sign these players.

Perhaps such a process was put into signing Onyeka, who will get a chance to now play in the Premier League. If that is true, it is fair to think that Brentford has got themselves a player.

The 23-year-old comes into a side that plays an exciting and progressive brand of football and would have to add being a ball-playing midfielder along with his defensive duties.

Although they are automatic picks to suffer the drop, Brentford could spring up surprises this season.

They have kept their core which impressed in the Championship last season. Star striker Ivan Toney alongside Bryan Mbeumo, Christian Norgaard or Rico Henry, are still at the club.

With signings like Onyeka and Norway defender Kristoffer Ajer who was signed with a club-record £12m from Celtic, Brentford have prepared for like at the top the best they could.

Onyeka would aim to help his side beat the drop and show he can compete at this level.

Against Arsenal on Friday, he kicks off these quests.