Vitaly Janelt has discussed his journey at Brentford so far and the reasons why he chose to sign a new contract with the Bees.

The 27-year-old's new deal runs until the summer of 2030, with a club option of a further year.

Janelt joined the west Londoners in October 2020 from VfL Bochum aged 22 having predominantly featured in the second division of German football.

Asked if he could have imagined that he would be extending his stay further five-and-a-half years on, he replied: "Never, to be honest!

"I came here and played a decent role to develop the club on and off the pitch, and now here we are.

"Four-and-a-half seasons in the Premier League, over 150 Premier League games - I think that says a lot and I’m very proud."

Having begun his career at hometown club Hamburg before stints at RB Leipzig and Bochum, Janelt's move to Brentford also saw him take on the challenges of adapting to a new country and language.

He went on to explain why he feels at home in west London.

"For me it’s the whole package – it’s the fans, it’s the city, it’s the club," Janelt said.

"The Gtech is our fortress. Everyone knows how difficult it is to play against us, especially when we have the fans behind us.

"This season, we’ve lost just one game so that means a lot for everyone. Half of the credit goes to the fans because without them, we wouldn’t really perform like that.

"I’ve been with some clubs and I know a lot of players who play in different cities and in different countries and honestly, you can mention maybe five clubs where you have such a nice group, such nice people to take care of you. This is very rare in football, and I think that’s why we’ve had success as well."

A promotion-winner from the Championship in his first season with the Bees, Janelt has continued to be pivotal in the top flight, recently becoming the first player to reach 150 Premier League appearances in red and white.

The midfielder missed the end of last campaign and the beginning of this season after undergoing surgery on a heel issue, but has shone in recent weeks, starting the last six league games and contributing four assists in that time.

"I struggled a lot with Achilles pain for one-and-a-half to two years," Janelt continued, discussing his recent form.

"At one point, I said this is enough now. It came to that point in March so in April, we did the surgery. It took me a bit of time to get back to 100 per cent.

"It took me nearly six months and since then, I’m very settled, I’m very happy and hopefully I can show the quality I’ve shown in the last few weeks in the future as well."

Looking ahead to the rest of this season and the remainder of his new deal, he concluded: "We all know how difficult it is to compete in this league, I think many clubs go up and down, but we’ve showed now for a consistent time that we really compete in the best league in the world.

"I’ve been here to see the development from the Championship to the Premier League. I hope we can bring it to the next level to reach European football one day or to win a trophy.

"We’ve developed as a team and a squad over the years and I think we now deserve the next step."