Brentford officially announced that it has renewed its contract with Danish midfielder Damsgaard: the in-form midfielder has signed a new contract that will run until the summer of 2030; the club has the option to extend his contract for another year.

After progressing through the youth ranks at Nordsjaelland, it was in 2019/20 that Damsgaard excelled. Primarily deployed on the left wing, he scored 11 goals and assisted another seven in 37 games in all competitions.

That sparkling form attracted interest from abroad and, in February 2020, his summer transfer to Sampdoria was confirmed.

He ended his first season in Italy having made the joint-second most appearances in the squad. His senior Denmark debut, and two further caps followed, before he was included in Kasper Hjulmand’s squad for the delayed Euro 2020.

Damsgaard started all bar one of Denmark’s six games in their run to the semi-final and - after becoming his nation’s youngest scorer in European Championship history when he found the net against Russia aged 20 years and 353 days - he hit the headlines when he struck a stunning dipping free-kick to open the scoring in a 2-1 defeat to England.

When Damsgaard returned to club football, he was one of the first names on the team sheet until October when a knee injury kept him out of action for a six-month period.

Having returned to fitness, Brentford spotted his potential and brought him in on a five-year contract.Denmark international Damsgaard has played 27 games for the Bees this season, registering three goals and seven assists.

“I am very happy that Mikkel has signed a new contract with us,” said Brentford head coach Thomas Frank.

“This season, he is starting to show what we believed we’d get from him. We knew that wouldn’t happen straight away because of the time he was out before he came here, but it ended up being longer than expected - both for him and us.

“Mikkel was then unlucky with another injury but, after two years of relatively consistent training and a good environment - and with patience both ways - we are now seeing the fruit of the work.

“He has been one of our best players this season; we are very dangerous when he is playing.

“But there is more to come from Mikkel. It has been half a season, now he needs to perform for a full season. We need to add layers, but I am happy with what he is doing.”