REPUBLIC OF IRELAND U21 international Alex Gilbert has been sent out on loan by Brentford.
The 19-year-old winger will get an opportunity to increase his exposure to competitive senior football by spending the season with League Two club Swindon Town.
Having been relegated from League One last season, Swindon have made a promising start to the new campaign by taking 10 points from a possible 15 to move into fourth place.
“I first made contact with Brentford four weeks ago regarding taking Alex on loan,” Swindon Town’s director of football Ben Chorley said of the club’s final acquisition of the transfer window.
“I watched him a number of times in pre-season play for the first-team. He plays with a hungriness, a desire to get shots off and always looks to create goalscoring opportunities. He is very dynamic, is excellent in the air and is a scorer of all types of goals.
“The style and pace of play that he is coached at Brentford really fits in with the process of what we’re trying to create here. We wish him all the best for his time with us.”
As well as featuring regularly for the club’s B team, Gilbert made two first-team appearances for Brentford last season in the FA Cup.
He was also included among the substitutes for several Championship fixtures as Thomas Frank’s side achieved promotion to the Premier League.
The Birmingham-born youngster has won four Ireland U21 caps, making his debut for Jim Crawford’s team in the friendly win against Wales back in March.
However, he’s not involved with the squad for the the double-header of European Championship qualifiers against Bosnia & Herzegovina and Luxembourg on Friday and Tuesday respectively.
