Brentford have completed the permanent signing of midfielder Mamadou Sangar\u00e9 from Lens for a club-record fee.The 24-year-old has signed a five-year contract, with a club option for a further year.<\/p>\n
Sangar\u00e9 arrives in west London following an outstanding debut season in France, during which he helped Lens finish second in Ligue 1 and win the Coupe de France for the first time in the club\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
The Mali international made 33 appearances in all competitions for Lens last term, scoring three goals and providing three assists.<\/p>\n
He was named in the UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year and won the Prix Marc-Vivien Fo\u00e9, awarded to the best African player in the French top flight.<\/p>\n
Brentford head coach Keith Andrews said: \u201cMamadou is someone that we\u2019ve tracked for quite some time. He\u2019s been on our radar and was a player we were really keen to bring in.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast season was a huge season for him following a couple of loan spells during which he developed. At Lens, he performed at such a consistently high level for a team that finished second in the league.<\/p>\n
\u201cAdded to that was his form for Mali, where he became a really key player for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a player that adds to a really good midfield that we already have; he also adds qualities that we don\u2019t have. He complements the current midfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the conversations I\u2019ve had with him, he\u2019s very keen to come here. He\u2019s a humble young man, but he\u2019s equally as determined to succeed in his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe fits everything we want from a Brentford player, on and off the pitch. He\u2019ll be a player that I think will become very, very popular with the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in Bamako, Sangar\u00e9 began his career with Malian academy Yeelen Olympique before joining Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg in 2020.<\/p>\n
He gained his first experience of senior football in Europe with Salzburg\u2019s feeder club FC Liefering, scoring once in 11 appearances during the 2020\/21 campaign.<\/p>\n
Sangar\u00e9 continued his development during a succession of loan spells in Austria and Belgium.<\/p>\n
He scored five goals in 26 league appearances for Grazer AK during the 2021\/22 season before joining Belgian Pro League side Zulte Waregem for the following campaign.<\/p>\n
The midfielder moved on loan to TSV Hartberg midway through the 2022\/23 season and established himself as a regular in the Austrian Bundesliga, making 46 league appearances across 18 months with the club.<\/p>\n
Sangar\u00e9\u2019s performances earned him a permanent move to Rapid Wien in July 2024.<\/p>\n
He made 44 appearances in all competitions during his first season in Vienna, helping Rapid reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League and secure a fifth-placed finish in the Austrian Bundesliga.<\/p>\n
After beginning the following campaign with Rapid, Sangar\u00e9 joined Lens in August 2025.<\/p>\n
He quickly became an important part of Pierre Sage\u2019s side, making 29 Ligue 1 appearances as Lens mounted a title challenge and finished just six points behind champions Paris Saint-Germain.<\/p>\n
Sangar\u00e9\u2019s athleticism, ball-winning ability and capacity to cover ground helped establish him as one of the division\u2019s standout midfielders.<\/p>\n
He also started the Coupe de France final as Lens defeated Nice 3-1 to lift the trophy for the first time in their history.<\/p>\n
At international level, Sangar\u00e9 made his senior debut in 2024 and has won 16 caps for Mali.<\/p>\n
He featured throughout the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, playing in each of Mali\u2019s matches as they reached the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brentford have completed the permanent signing of midfielder Mamadou Sangar\u00e9 from Lens for a club-record fee.The 24-year-old has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":797760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-797759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}