Dean Smith has insisted that Konstantin Kerschbaumer still has a future at Brentford, despite going on loan to Arminia Bielefeld.
The Austrian completed the switch to the 2. Bundesliga side last week in a bid to get regular first team football.
Before the loan was completed, the club agreed a year's option to be inserted into Kerschbaumer's contract meaning the club can retain him under contract until the end of the 2020 season.
This was a similar move to what the Bees did when Jota joined Eibar in 2016 and Smith would put this loan deal in the same category.
The Brentford head coach said: “We still think there's a future here for Kersch but he's got to go and play games.
“I understood his reasoning when he suggested he'd like to go out on loan. He needs to be playing.
“He came into the team and it was a heavy heart I let him go but there are no guarantees in this game.”
