Central defender Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jørgensen has signed a new contract with the Club.

Zanka first joined the Bees last September on a deal until the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

He missed the end of last season through injury and has been rehabilitating with the Club over the summer. Now recovered from that injury, the Denmark international has signed a one-year contract with an option for an extra year.

Zanka made his debut for Brentford in the Premier League win at Wolverhampton Wanderers and was involved in nine games in a row in all competitions last autumn. He started seven of those games and scored against Leicester City.

He was ruled out for almost five months and played one more match - a home win against West Ham United - before picking up the injury that ended his season. He played ten times in total for the Bees last season, with eight of those games coming in the Premier League.

Thomas Frank, Brentford FC Head Coach, said: “We always wanted to extend Zanka’s contract and are happy that we have now done so. He did very well for us last season in the games he played and was fantastic around the group as an experienced player. He is unique in what he gives off the pitch. He gives the group a lot when he is playing and when he isn’t, with small pieces of advice to younger players and pushing everyone in training.

“He picked up quite a big injury in April and we needed to make sure he was back to his fitness level. We have been assured of that in pre-season. He played around 75 minutes in a behind-closed-doors game earlier this week against Premier League opposition. He is in a good place and we have signed him.”

Zanka, 32, joined Brentford after leaving Turkish side Fenerbahçe S.K. in the summer of 2021 and has played for five clubs in five different countries. He arrived with Premier League experience, playing for Huddersfield Town when they had two years in the top flight between 2017 and 2019.

Danish Superliga side FC Copenhagen were Zanka’s first club and he has had three spells with the 13-time Danish champions, playing a role in five of their title wins. He had two years with PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands and joined Fenerbahçe in 2019. He has also spent time on loan at Fortuna Düsseldorf in Germany.

Zanka has a vast amount of experience at international level, too. He has played 35 times for Denmark and was part of the squad that reached the Semi-Finals of the delayed UEFA European Championships 2020, played last summer. He also featured, and scored one of his two goals, for Denmark in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.