Michael Olakigbe Joins WSG Tirol on Loan from Brentford
Brentford winger Michael Olakigbe will continue his footballing education on the continent after completing a season-long loan move to Austrian Bundesliga side WSG Tirol.
The 20-year-old, part of Brentford’s B setup, makes the switch after a busy run of lower-league loans in England, the latest with Swindon Town in Sky Bet League Two during the second half of the 2025/26 campaign.
He arrived at Swindon in January and quickly forced his way into the side. Olakigbe made 18 appearances in all competitions for the Robins, registering one goal and three assists, with six of those outings coming from the start. It was another step in a career already shaped by short, sharp spells of men’s football.
Now comes a different kind of test.
A new stage in Austria
WSG Tirol finished seventh before the Austrian Bundesliga split last season and then did just enough to keep clear of the relegation group, ending three points above danger. It is a club that fights, scrapes, survives. Olakigbe walks into a dressing room that knows how to grind.
For Brentford, that edge is exactly what they want him to feel.
Brentford B head coach Sam Saunders called the move “a good opportunity for Michael to go and test himself again in men’s football, but this time abroad and showcase what he can do.”
From the Football League to the Alps, the challenge shifts but the message from Saunders remains clear: go and express yourself.
“From his loans in the Football League, it’ll be interesting to see how he goes and expresses himself abroad,” Saunders said. “I’m sure that he’ll get some great exposure and some good learnings, and we look forward to seeing him when he gets back.”
A career built on loans
Olakigbe is not heading to Austria as an unknown quantity inside Brentford. The winger signed a long-term contract with the Bees in November 2023, during a season in which he made eight Premier League appearances. Those top-flight minutes underlined how highly the club rate him.
Since then, his path has been defined by a series of targeted loans designed to harden his game.
He joined Peterborough United in January 2024, featuring in five league matches across the second half of the 2023/24 season. That stint ended in disappointment, with Posh falling in the League One play-off semi-final, but it handed him a taste of high-stakes football.
The next move came quickly. In May 2024, Olakigbe headed to Wigan Athletic on loan, where he clocked 18 appearances before Brentford recalled him mid-season. Another door opened almost immediately, this time at Chesterfield Town in January 2025. He stayed there for the remainder of the campaign, only to suffer more play-off heartbreak as the Spireites exited in the League Two semi-finals.
Play-off pushes, relegation battles, loan recalls. Olakigbe has already seen the harsher, less glamorous side of the game. Austria now offers something different: a full season in a top-flight division, away from the familiar rhythms of English football.
Brentford will watch closely. WSG Tirol will expect impact. And Olakigbe, moving from the Football League to the mountains of Tyrol, has another chance to prove he belongs at the level his parent club believes he can reach.
