The forward joined Brentford from Club Brugge for a £30 million fee in the summer of 2024.
Over halfway through the season, The Bees are in fantasy land.
Following four wins in five games, and a Samba striker banging in the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.
A emphatic three-nil win over the Black Cats moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the top flight – a position that was good enough to secure European football last term.
Solely leaders the Gunners have gathered more points over the past six games.
There is a long way to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the fight for European football.
No one was envisioning this last off-season.
The former head coach had departed for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the top flight.
Club captain Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.
Specialist coach Andrews was promoted to replace the Dane, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the off-season arrivals.
A year of difficulty, possibly even the drop, was widely predicted. But here we are in the new year with the club in the top five.
So, how did they pull it off?
Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season
The club's decision not to sign another striker was in part down to circumstance, with one forward's move not being finalized until the final day of the window.
But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already ready and waiting.
Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in July 2024 for a then-record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.
The 24-year-old has gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his double against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.
Considering the countrymen who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games remaining.
"He has been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He's physically intimidating, quick, strong, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a huge compliment to him."
That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point shows the level he is playing at.
And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so vital for his team.
His opener against the Black Cats was his 7th first goal of a game of the season. Considering how often we are told the significance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that first big chance cannot be overstated.
Before the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shooting accuracy than Igor Thiago's 59.1%.
He finds the target. Achieve that often enough and the goals will – and have – come.
Given the hardships he had earlier in life, where he labored in construction to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.
"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and characters," the manager said. "This is really notable. He is a really unique person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and toiled. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."
The Manager Proving Sceptics Incorrect
Igor Thiago is the headline act but the team are not and have never been a single-player team.
While they had star players – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, they were always seen as a team more effective than the sum of their parts.
The concern was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.
Consequently, appointing Andrews, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a huge risk.
A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the Premier League and having made the leap from specialist coach to the top job.
But given that Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly confident they had the right man.
To date, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at the club, it looks as if they were spot on.
The new boss won just a single of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.
Wins that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for European qualification.
"We are in good form and playing really good. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with or without the ball," he added. "We're happy with how we are going but we want to keep pushing."
In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just eight points, they have no other option, because things could quickly look very otherwise.
But, for now, Brentford are defying the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those dreams of the continent will become.
