Thomas Frank has suggested that Kevin Schade could go on to have the same kind of impact for Brentford as Ollie Watkins.
The Bees will be without star striker Ivan Toney until January after he was given an eight-month ban for breaching FA betting rules.
And head coach Frank has hinted that the club might not necessarily sign a centre-forward to replace Toney while he is unavailable.
Frank drew a parallel with when the club sold Neal Maupay and then deployed Ollie Watkins up front.
Watkins had previously operated as a wide-man or playing just off the front, but was a revelation as a striker and ended up being sold to Aston Villa and playing for England.
The pacy Schade has struggled in front of goal since arriving on loan but Brentford plan to sign him on a permanent deal this summer and have high hopes for him.
Frank told West London Sport: “We are very keen on signing Kevin Schade in the window and will have four players who can play in the position in Yoane Wissa, Keane Lewis-Potter and Bryan Mbeumo.
“We have in-house, good replacements. Schade could be good down the middle, but we don’t know yet if we will do anything in the market, but it’s something we will need to consider.
“But in the Championship we lost Neal Maupay and had to find 25 goals, so we moved Ollie Watkins into the middle and he scored 28 goals. That could maybe happen again.”