Yoane Wissa has been left out of Brentford’s squad ahead of their pre-season friendly with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Wissa has been the subject of interest from Newcastle in recent weeks, with the Magpies reported to have re-entered negotiations for the forward.
Wissa, who missed Brentford’s 1-0 win over QPR last weekend, returned to training this week having not trained with the squad since they got back from their pre-season training camp in Portugal.
The Congolese forward, who scored 19 Premier League goals last season, left the Portugal camp amid uncertainty over his future.
Upon his return to London he held talks with Brentford’s director of football, Phil Giles, where he outlined his desire to leave the club and play Champions League football.
Wissa is said to have been left frustrated after the club promised him last season he would be free to leave this summer.
Brentford are keen not to lose their all-time Premier League goalscorer following the departures of head coach Thomas Frank, captain Christian Norgaard and Bryan Mbeumo.
The club have set a £50m valuation on Wissa in an attempt to fend off interest in the striker.
Brentford head coach Keith Andrews said after the Bees’ friendly with QPR that he was looking forward to welcoming Wissa back into the group, admitting the forward needed to build back his fitness.
“Where it’s at is, in a nutshell, is there’s interest in Yoane.
“As everybody knows, he came back from the tour in Lisbon, which we felt was the right decision for Yoane.
“We have to respect his position and the fact that it can be stressful, emotional.
“I think that’s only natural for players. I think if you say anything different, you’re not living in the real world. But for us, it’s really simple. He’s a little bit behind in his fitness, he’s training very, very hard at the moment at the training ground and we look forward to welcoming him back into the group.”
Andrews added it would be a “bonus” to have Wissa available to him ahead of the new season.
“Having the best players in the building would always be a bonus, yes.
“I deal with the football side of things. I’m very comfortable with Yoane at the moment, phenomenal respect for him as an individual, as a person, very understanding of the situation.”
Newly appointed club captain Nathan Collins, meanwhile, said the club would move on if Wissa were to depart this summer.
“We all know Wissa. He’s a lovely lad. He’s a good guy. Even around the changing room, he’s a good personality. It’s up to him what he wants to do.
“It’s not going to affect us too much on the pitch. If he’s here, great. If he’s not, then we move on.”
