Brentford face a battle once again to keep hold of a key player this summer, with Aston Villa interested in attacking midfielder Said Benrahma.

The Algerian enjoyed a brilliant first season in England, scoring ten goals and recording a league high 14 assists from 38 Championship games in the previous campaign.

That has caught the eye, with Sky Sports reporting that Dean Smith's newly-promoted side have had a first bid rejected for the 23-year-old.

Whether they go back with a second offer remains to be seen, and whilst the Bees will be desperate to keep hold of him, they've shown in the past they will cash in if a big bid is on the table.

Here we look at THREE repercussions for the Londoners if they did sanction a sale...

It could signal a lack of ambition to the fans

All fans want to see their club progress but Brentford haven't really done so in the past few years, primarily because they keep selling their better players.

Whilst you can't knock the approach they adopt, there needs to be more of a balance and they should do more to keep hold of key men.

So, having sold Chris Mepham in January and with Neal Maupay perhaps on the way, losing Benrahma as well may anger the fans.

Players may want to follow him out of the door

That can have a knock-on effect too with the current group and they may not be happy with the lack of ambition.

The likes of Ollie Watkins and Romaine Sawyers will want to be playing for a club that has top-flight hopes and they won't be happy if quality teammates are sold on.

Brentford have a lot of talent right now at Griffin Park and they need to capitalise on that.

They will need a quality replacement

Another big issue for Thomas Franke and the recruitment team is that they will struggle to find a replacement who boasts the same ability.

We've mentioned the outstanding contribution from Benrahma and bringing in someone who can match that will be a very tough ask.