Frank explains decision to loan out Dervişoğlu – and backs ‘fantastic’ Onyeka to take opportunity

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Thomas Frank says forward Halil Dervişoğlu needs to play more consistently out on loan before he can establish himself in Brentford’s first team.

Dervişoğlu has joined Championship side Burnley on a season-long loan deal.

The 22-year-old has also spent the last two seasons out on loan, including half of the 2020/21 season at FC Twente before joining Galatasaray, where he returned again for the entirety of the last campaign.

But Frank believes another loan spell for the forward will be more beneficial at this stage of his career.

“There’s so many pathways to get to the top, that can influence your career. But the most important thing is that any player, including Halil, finds a rhythm and a consistency in the way they play,” Frank said.

“Long story short, he needs to play more consistent minutes, which he hasn’t done in the last couple of loans.

“If he plays every week, hopefully scores some goals and makes some with his offensive actions, I think it will be good for him.”

Midfielder Frank Onyeka was also expected to follow Dervişoğlu out on loan by joining Middlesbrough, before an injury to Christian Norgaard, who is set to miss a number of weeks with an Achilles problem, scuppered the move.

And Frank says Onyeka, who made 20 Premier League appearances for the Bees after joining the club last summer, could now be given more of an opportunity following the injury to Norgaard.

“We are big believers in having a squad which is not too small or not too big. What that exact number is, I don’t know,” Frank said.

“If you have too many then you will have too many unhappy players because they need to see an opportunity to play. Now the dynamic has changed with, in this case, Christian’s injury.

“We couldn’t take the risk so we needed to keep Frank.

“Frank has trained fantastically in all the games. Things move quick in football. Two weeks ago, Zanka wasn’t even in the squad and now he’s playing.

“You just need to be ready and to Frank’s credit, he’s done very well in training.”