There is only one place to start with Brentford\u2019s Michael Kayode: his unique baby gender reveal at an empty Gtech Community Stadium in February. The 21-year-old walked towards the West Stand, the frame of the goal covered in balloons, and after wiping the ball with a towel, it was time for his trademark long throw, though on this occasion only from the edge of the D. After the ball rippled the net, pink smoke confirmed his partner, Eleonora, is expecting a girl.<\/p>\n
Given Kayode launched the ball 65.4 metres last September \u2013 further than any other player in the Premier League since Opta began recording such data in 2019-20 \u2013 it is hard not to think he was underselling himself. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to miss,\u201d he says, breaking into laughter, \u201cso I just kept it easy.\u201d Family, friends, a videographer and photographer, plus the couple\u2019s pomeranian, Kiri, were the only ones present. \u201cIt was a really special moment and celebrating like this was unbelievable \u2026 I just have to say thanks to Brentford for giving me use of the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n
Significantly, there is substance to Kayode\u2019s long throw: of the 157 he has hurled into the box in the Premier League this season, 40 have resulted in a shot and five have culminated in goals, almost 10% of Brentford\u2019s goals scored tally. He downplays his part. \u201cIt is simple. Obviously it is a weapon, but across 90 minutes, in that period the ball is out for maybe not even five minutes for throw-ins.\u201d Does he practise throw-ins? \u201cNo, no, not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graphic showing the players with the most long throw-ins in the Premier League this season<\/a><\/p>\n Brentford were the first team in England to hire a specialist set-piece coach when they appointed Gianni Vio in 2015 and these days long throws are part of the furniture. For Kayode, it is his USP and an attribute that alerted Brentford when he was an 18-year-old playing in Serie A for Fiorentina, but there is much more to his game. \u201cIt is hard to defend, I think harder to defend than a corner. But it\u2019s just a part of the game \u2013 I don\u2019t play just because I have a long throw. There are a lot of different aspects to my performance. You have to watch me as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n Graphic of the Premier League\u2019s longest throw-ins<\/a><\/p>\n What is Italian for pigeonholed? Brentford were confident Kayode\u2019s athleticism, power and physicality would be a perfect match for the English top flight and no player 21 or under has played more minutes in the Premier League this season than Kayode, who signed permanently in a \u00a315m deal at the end of last season and has missed one league match this campaign. Some at the club even felt Kayode could be better suited to the Premier League than Serie A. \u201cTwo totally different types of football,\u201d he says. \u201cMore runs, more duels. I really enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n Kayode spent seven years in Juventus\u2019s academy but aged 14 joined the Serie D side Gozzano, for whom he made his first-team debut aged 16. \u201cTo drop down was hard, but after I was like: \u2018I want to come back to that level,\u2019 so I used that as fuel.\u201d His performances in the fourth tier led him to Fiorentina and the way he tamed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in a 3-1 win over Napoli cemented his reputation as a burgeoning talent. \u201cI was 19 and before the game, everyone was saying: \u2018You have to mark him, it\u2019s going to be really hard.\u2019 The staff prepared me a lot, showed me a lot of clips, so I was a little bit shaky at first,\u201d he says, smiling.<\/p>\n Michael Kayode joined Brentford in January 2025 from Fiorentina. Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Kayode, raised by Nigerian parents in Gattico, about 70 miles north-east of Turin, joined Brentford on loan in January 2025, when Thomas Frank was in charge and Keith Andrews, promoted to the role of head coach last summer, was the set-piece coach. Outsiders often forget Andrews was not solely focused on set pieces and was also an instrumental part of Frank\u2019s staff. \u201cFor me, he was still like a manager last season,\u201d says Kayode.<\/p>\n The right-back\u2019s heat maps talk to his all-action displays, evidenced last weekend when he attacked the box to force the opening goal in a 3-0 victory against West Ham<\/a>. Staff recall being pleasantly surprised by the moment he popped up high on the left flank, overlapping Keane Lewis-Potter, the full-back on the opposite side, at Ipswich on his fourth start. It is no wonder that Kayode is among the top 10 players for distance run in the Premier League this season; Adrien Truffert of Bournemouth is the only defender to have covered more ground, Kayode clocking up 355km and counting. On the field, Kayode is a live wire, a creator of chaos, but off it he is a humble and infectious personality, immensely popular around the training ground.<\/p>\n