Three years after he spent a brief spell on loan with Bradford Park Avenue in the sixth tier of English football, Keane Lewis-Potter has become Brentford’s club-record transfer.
Brentford completed a £16 million deal to sign Lewis-Potter from Hull City on a six-year contract. The figure for the 21-year-old, who they first tried to sign last year, could rise to £20 million if certain conditions are met. It marks the second time this summer that Brentford have broken their transfer record after they paid Bologna £14 million to secure defender Aaron Hickey.
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Wrapping up their first two signings of the window will provide Thomas Frank’s side with a huge boost as they prepare for their second season in the Premier League and will also soften the blow of losing Christian Eriksen.
Hickey’s arrival should solve their problems at right-back. Nobody has nailed down the position since Henrik Dalsgaard left the club to join Midtjylland when his contract expired a year agobut Lewis-Potter improves an area of the squad that was already brimming with talent.
At Hull, the England Under-21 international performed in different attacking roles, including as a wing-back, but he has preferred to play high up on the left so that he can cut inside onto his favoured right foot.
This suggests that he will be primarily competing for a place in Brentford’s starting XI against Yoane Wissa, who was the club’s second-highest goalscorer (seven) last season, and Bryan Mbeumo, who recorded the most assists (seven).
By using data from smarterscout — which gives players ratings from zero and 99 relating to either how often a player performs a given stylistic action (for example, volume of shots per touch), or how effective they are at it (for example, how well they progress the ball upfield) compared with others playing in their position — we can get a clearer idea of his attributes. What jumps out immediately is Lewis-Potter’s propensity to dribble (carry and dribble volume 78 out of 99) and this will offer Brentford something different. StatsBomb data via FBref shows that Frank’s team only recorded 29 dribbles leading to shots in the top flight last season — the second-lowest in the division.
The Hull academy graduate looks to find space in the opponent’s penalty area frequently (receptions in the opposition box 77 out of 99) and get shots away, too (shot volume 90 out of 99).
He is efficient in the final third and matches his expected goals output. He also averaged 0.26 goals per 90 minutes last season — a goal every four games. Lewis-Potter was Hull’s top goalscorer last year with 12 as his old team avoided getting relegated from the Championship and playing in a well-organised Brentford side could help him thrive once more.
Lewis-Potter’s skill with both feet and his straight-line running speed make it difficult for full-backs to predict his next move. In an interview with Hull’s website from March 2021, he spoke about the thrill of taking on players in one-v-one situations.
“Every chance I get the ball, I try to get it out of my feet and dribble at defenders,” he said. “Whether that’s to dribble and set someone up, or dribble and have a shot myself. It’s one of my main attributes and I like to do it as much as I can. I enjoy running at defenders with the ball and trying to make them commit fouls or create an opportunity.”
We can see an example of how effective his dribbling is from Hull’s 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough in April. Hull have the ball in their opponent’s half when Richie Smallwood sprays a ball out wide to Lewis-Potter.
The forward’s first touch here is indicative of his play style — he wants to lure defenders into one-v-one duels, but in a way that he can dictate the tempo. He kills the ball with his instep and is effectively static as Marcus Tavernier stands him up.
Because he’s got such explosive acceleration, Lewis-Potter has to play smartly. He needs to stay out of the space that he wants to score (or assist) from right up until the moment of that action, and he needs to keep defenders out of it too. This slow approach also facilitates an underlap from Brandon Fleming, which pins the two covering Middlesbrough defenders and makes the space that he wants.
Initially, Lewis-Potter feints left with his body, giving himself the time and space to chop inside with one touch before knocking the ball to the edge of the area with the outside of his right boot. That detail is important — it allows him to shift his weight onto his left leg to push off and generate all the necessary power, setting him up to strike with his next touch.
He then curls the ball into the bottom corner to give Hull all three points — 10 of his 30 goals for the club were match-winners.
Lewis-Potter was comfortably one of the best ball carriers in the Championship, but do not be fooled into thinking he is limited to the role of a stereotypical head-down inverted winger. Given his excellent physical attributes and seamless movement, he has scored multiple goals from smartly timed, out-to-in runs from the left.
Against Wigan Athletic in the Carabao Cup in August 2021, he adopts a wide, blindside positioning that is similar to the one we saw in the previous set of images.
Max Power is on marking duties but the Wigan man is square and facing Lewis-Potter, which means he is not in a position yet where he can run back towards goal as he needs to spin his hips. That leaves Brentford’s new signing one step ahead — not that he needs it.
George Moncur threads the ball through a gap and Lewis-Potter wraps a first-time right-footed shot beyond Jamie Jones.
Frank likes his forwards to work hard and encourages them to press high up the pitch. Lewis-Potter’s second goal in Hull’s 3-0 victory over Peterborough United in February demonstrates he can adapt to those demands.
Peterborough are in control of possession at the back when captain Oliver Norburn passes the ball towards Jorge Grant in the centre circle. However, Grant is completely oblivious to the danger lurking over his left shoulder.
The midfielder takes a touch back towards his own half, which allows Lewis-Potter to nip in front and steal the ball.
Lewis-Potter accelerates up the pitch pursued by Grant but takes a heavy touch as he approaches the penalty area.
He remains calm and slides the ball underneath goalkeeper Steven Benda while Ronnie Edwards tries in vain to stop his effort from crossing the line. The forward’s first goal was a powerful drive from distance in the 51st minute, yet this effort was arguably more impressive as his tenacity and aggression created a chance out of nothing.
Despite his size, Lewis-Potter is a threat in the air from open play and at set pieces — his first two goals for Hull were with his head. He got on the scoresheet in the England Under-21s’ 5-0 win over Kosovo last month and the move begins with him in a more central position, looking to pin the opposition’s back line.
He attempts to make a quick incisive run beyond the defensive line but his team-mates work it wide instead.
Now Lewis-Potter intelligently follows the fundamental rules of attacking positioning in the box and uses a “double movement” — he makes one run for the defender to pull them away, then one for himself. As the cross is about to be played in, he drops a couple of yards, pulling the Kosovo defender deeper.
It may seem incredibly granular as a detail, but this gives Lewis-Potter space to attack the ball with a run-up, which is beneficial given the size inferiority he would expect to have against a central defender. At the point of Harvey Elliott’s cross being struck, he’s on the move forwards.
He outjumps his marker and connects with the ball to open the scoring.
We have to finish up by looking at this majestic assist he provided when Hull beat Accrington Stanley 3-0 during their League One title-winning season in 2020-21. Gavin Whyte passes the ball towards Lewis-Potter, who is surrounded by three opponents.
When he receives the ball, the situation still hasn’t improved and it appears the move will break down.
However, he cheekily pirouettes past Sean McConville and Ross Sykes into space.
Accrington become so enraged by this piece of skill that three more players rush towards Lewis-Potter determined to stop him. He simply pokes the ball through a small gap for Mallik Wilks, who opens the scoring.
The 21-year-old’s flexibility raises the prospect that Brentford could line up with three small and nimble forwards if Ivan Toney is injured.
Lewis-Potter, Mbeumo and Wissa could interchange positions in a fluid system that bears similarities to when Mbeumo tormented opponents with Said Benrahma and Ollie Watkins during the 2019-20 season. Brentford’s overreliance on Toney made them predictable at times in the top flight last year, but this offers up an exciting alternative way for Frank to construct his forward line.
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Lewis-Potter certainly ticks the boxes for Brentford — a speedy, versatile forward who can operate on either flank without compromising chance creation or attacking threat.
Exactly how they use him remains to be seen — and there is an argument that he would perfectly complement Toney in a strike partnership. It is up to Frank to work out how to maximise Lewis-Potter’s potential, but it is a great problem to have.
