Brentford chief Phil Giles admits the chances of re-signing Christian Eriksen over the summer was always remote.

Eriksen came off contract at the Bees and eventually moved to Manchester United.

Giles told the club's website: “I think we were always realistic about our chances of getting him.

“As the summer goes on, and you don't hear anything, you just start thinking about your other targets.

“Different things can change your approach, for example this summer we had some injuries at centre-back that we needed to take into account. Zanka was training with us, always with a view to stay on, and we were very open with each other. We told him to stay here, train, get your rehab done – you'll be doing that anyway – and get yourself back to fitness. We know the door is open, if you want to go to another club then we can't stop that. Equally, we want to bring another player in and we got a good solution to that in the end.

“You try not to change too many plans through the window, in terms of what you need. Obviously, some players you target, and you miss out on, and some positional requirements come along. You really want to try and minimise that last-minute reaction to certain events in the summer."