Championship side Brentford have slapped a huge £20m fee on the head of winger Said Benrahma, in the hope of deterring Aston Villa from making a formal move.

The Bees have taken the stance to try and protect themselves from any bid from Villa, with the Sun on Sunday reporting that the Griffin Park outfit are desperate to keep hold of the pacey winger as they eye a run at the top six next season.

Villa have already reportedly made a bid in the region of £9m for Benrahma, but the Bees were thought to have swiftly rejected that offer from the Premier League newboys as Thomas Frank looks to keep hold of his best players heading into next season.

Benrahma is well known to Villa manager Dean Smith following on from his time managing the Bees, but he looks like he is going to have seriously up his offer if he is to be serious about capturing the Algerian, who netted 10 times last season.

A full Algerian international, Benrahma made the move to the Championship from French club Nice, and has since gone from strength to strength as he has adapted nicely to life in the English game.

The Verdict

We are seeing this more and more from the Championship clubs in terms of slapping big fees on their star player's heads, and rightly so.

Brentford have let players go for too little in the past and it's good to see them putting their foot down over Benrahma.

Villa will have to pay the big bucks if they want to sign him, and rightly so as well for one of the better wingers outside the top flight.