With the news of Dean Smith's departure from Brentford to join fellow Championship side Aston Villa, many Brentford fans will be eagerly anticipating the arrival of Smith's successor. 

Brentford are currently just a point outside of the play-off positions, but the new manager will be looking to turn the Bees' poor run of form that has seen them slip out of the top six.

There has been a surprise contender emerge as one of the favourites for the job- with former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo amongst the favourites for the managerial vacancy at the Championship side.

Di Matteo was last seen as manager of Smith's new side, Aston Villa, where he was sacked in October 2016 after a poor run of results.

His most notable achievement was guiding Chelsea to their first ever Champions League title after defeating German giants Bayern Munich on penalties.

But what could Di Matteo bring to Brentford if appointed?

Find out here....

With Di Matteo previously playing and managing at Chelsea, he is likely to have many contacts still at the club.

These contacts could be used to attract the best young talent at Chelsea to make the short journey across London to join Brentford.

Despite his spell at Aston Villa in the Championship only being a short one, Di Matteo will be inheriting a squad that has the ability to really challenge for the play-off positions this season, which is evident given what former manager Dean Smith had previously achieved with the Bees.

Di Matteo will know exactly how to get the best out of the Brentford players and would be a high-profile name that has had experience working in the Championship.

With any potential managerial arrival, fans will want their new boss to be a successful manager that has won trophies.

Di Matteo certainly does that as he famously lead Chelsea to winning the Champions League in May 2012 and Brentford fans will be hoping that the former Chelsea man can prove to be a success at Griffin Park if he is to be appointed.