Brentford close in on first summer signing as £17m package agreed for highly-rated defender

Brentford have reached an agreement in principle with Red Bull Salzburg to sign centre-back Jannik Schuster .

Standard Sport understands the clubs have agreed a deal that would see Brentford pay an initial £13million plus £4m in add-ons, and they are in the process of arranging his medical.

The Bees already have Nathan Collins, Sepp van den Berg, Kristoffer Ajer and Ethan Pinnock in their ranks at centre-back, so Schuster is likely to be a signing with an eye to the future if it gets over the line.

The 19-year-old has established himself as a first-team regular in Salzburg’s defence, making 26 appearances for the 17-time Austrian Bundesliga champions this season.

He returned to Salzburg last summer after having spent three seasons at their feeder club, the second-division side FC Liefering.

Schuster is a right-footed centre-back, comfortable playing on either side of a central defence pairing.

Brentford are gearing up for a huge final three games of the Premier League season, with European football on the cards for the first time in their history.

Aston Villa’s progression to the Europa League final at the expense of Nottingham Forest on Thursday increased the likelihood of the Bees playing in the Champions League.

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Without finishing in the top five, Keith Andrews’s side would need to finish sixth and hope Villa beat Freiburg in the Europa League final and finish exactly fifth in the Premier League table to qualify for Europe’s premier competition.

Schuster has played four times in the Europa League this season for Salzburg, including starting in their 3-2 defeat to Villa back in January.