Director of football Phil Giles has discussed Brentford's transfer dealings this window.

Kevin Schade was the only incoming this January. He initially joined on loan until the end of the season, but is expected to sign for a club-record fee in the summer.

And Giles explained that Schade's signing was needed to add some pace to the squad, as the Bees look to build on their impressive form in the Premier League.

“The strategy for a while has been to add a bit of pace and power to the squad. We looked at that once we got promoted, we wanted to add a bit of that," he said.

“I think we added a lot of power, we needed a bit more pace, so that was the key thing - we looked at it last summer as well.

“There was a player who went to Chelsea that we looked at, that was quite well known, and we also looked at Kevin Schade last summer as well.

“He carried an injury into the season, so we didn’t get that done in the summer, but we followed that through the World Cup break and looked to conclude that quite early in January, so that was a really good start to the window for us.”

When asked if the Bees were close to any other business, he added: “In terms of what we needed, it was only going to be Kevin.

"But we always look at opportunities. A bit like last year with Christian Eriksen, there was an opportunity that came along that we were able to do. We always look for opportunities like that.

“There were two or three other young players who we're interested in now, but more for long-term projects. Maybe we'll look again in the summer for those ones.”

As well as Schade coming into the club, there were also some outgoings, including Sergi Canos who joined Olympiacos on loan until the end of the season on deadline day.

And Giles recalled the day we signed the Spaniard six years ago.

"Starting with the one from today, Sergi Canos, who's been an amazing player for us. We signed him six years ago nearly exactly to the day, it was towards the end of the window in 2017," he said.

“It was the day we sold Scott Hogan. Scott was our record sale, and then we broke our record transfer on the same day with Sergi Canos. We beat Aston Villa 3-0 that night, which was one of my favourite-ever Brentford nights!

"But Sergi has been an amazing player for us. He obviously hasn't got as many minutes as he would like recently, so it’s best that he goes and plays until the end of the season, and then we’ll look at the end of the season about that option that he's got and see what the best solution is for everyone.

“Charlie Goode: I keep on telling him whenever I see him that he’s the most unlucky player I've ever met in terms of his injury record since he came to the club. He's never really got proper games to see what he can do.

“He needed minutes, he got back fit before Christmas, and the plan was always to loan him. He'll have a good chance at Blackpool now with a good manager, who will play him and give him the minutes he needs.

“As for Mads Bech, he went on loan at the start of the season to Nice, didn't play any minutes, which was good in hindsight, because it meant he could go again for another loan, having played for us this season. Had he played for Nice, he couldn't have gone on loan for the second half of the season.

“So, not playing was a good thing and now he’s playing minutes – the Eredivise, good league, a team struggling, he should play a lot of minutes, and then we'll look at the situation this summer.

“Paris [Maghoma] and Ellery [Balcombe], both on loan in League Two, both, I think, had good loans in the sense that they went to a level where they played regularly and have got themselves on an upward trajectory. They’re now moving up into League One.

“For Ellery, he started in League One, he's dropped down into the National League and now he's coming on the way back up again. So, it’s good to have them both move up a level. Let's see how they get on at their new clubs.”

Giles admitted that he has already had a meeting with technical director Lee Dykes and head coach Thomas Frank about the summer, as the trio make plans for next season.

"We’re always planning. I had a meeting with Lee Dykes and Thomas today and we looked ahead to what we need," he concluded.

“I’ve got a spreadsheet, it's got all of our squad on it with contract lengths, and we looked at likely interest in our players, contract situations, and key positions on the pitch to target.

“We also looked at the balance of things like pace, power and experience in this squad, set-piece threat, all these different elements.

“So, we looked again at that and some of the deals that maybe we thought about in January and we'll carry that forward to the summer.”