Yakubu Exclusive: Brentford Are The Blueprint For Promoted Clubs

The Premier League is back and the question is how many of three newly-promoted sides will stay up?

In each of the previous two seasons, the sides that won promotion returned to the Championship after just one campaign in the top flight.

Supporters of Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland will hope their clubs can buck that trend and avoid relegation, although the best football betting sites disagree.

Yakubu, who played in the Premier League for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton and Blackburn, believes clubs should take a leaf out of Brentford's book on how to stay up.

The Bees won the Championship play-off final in 2021 and have established themselves as a top-flight club ever since.

"Brentford are stable now in the Premier League," Yakubu told Gambling.com in an exclusive interview.

"They had the right manager [in Thomas Frank], turned the team around and he made them stable. 

"They didn’t struggle for relegation and they've been in there for four seasons. 

"It's about working hard to bring the right players into the team and make them believe they can work together and get to the Premier League. 

"When you look at some other teams, they invested a lot to be competitive and to stay there. 

"Southampton have been there already and they know the way to bounce back. The same with Burnley too.

"The Premier League is one of the best leagues and people watch it all over the world."

Foxes Paid For Lack Of Investment 

During his time at Everton, Yakubu spent part of the 2010/11 season on loan at Leicester, scoring 11 times in 20 appearances.

The Foxes are regarded as one of the favourites on the best betting sites to win promotion back to the Premier League this season.

The experience they have in their squad and the parachute payments they will receive from the Premier League over the next three seasons, gives them an advantage over a number of other clubs in the Championship.

Yakubu, who will line up for Everton in the Manchester Masters at the AO Arena on September 5, was impressed with the way they fought back from a goal down to beat Sheffield Wednesday, with Wout Faes scoring the winner in the 87th minute. 

But he said the three sides that win promotion this season will be the ones that make the fewest errors.

"Leicester won their first Championship game 2-1 and I thought they looked good," Yakubu said.

"The Championship is different to the Premier League. Some of the teams get promoted and they struggle. 

"When you make mistakes in the Premier League, you get punished. In the Championship some of the mistakes don't get punished. 

"With Leicester, I hope they can get to the Premier League and try to get more experienced players in the team to help the young ones grow and stay in the league.

"Leicester didn't really bring in top players with experience that will help the team. 

"When Ruud van Nistelrooy was there, I don't think he brought any players in. 

"If you want to stay in the league, you have to bring players in where they can add value to the team and they didn't do it last season, that's why they went down."

Time Was Right For Vardy's Farewell

This will be the first season without Jamie Vardy, arguably Leicester's greatest ever player.

The 38-year-old signed off from his time at the King Power Stadium by scoring his 200th goal for the club in his final appearance. 

Yakubu believes the time was right for Vardy's departure.

"Vardy has been there for so many years, and he’s not young anymore," Yakubu said. 

"He’s a big legend at the club, and I believe both parties were happy to agree that it’s time for him to move on.

"He knows it himself. It’s the right moment to start the next chapter of his life. I hope he finds a club he loves playing for.

"He’s achieved so much at Leicester. He won the Premier League and the FA Cup, so his legacy is secure. 

"I don’t think the club made the wrong decision in letting him go. In fact, I think it was the right decision for everyone."