Showing2026/27 seasonAll official competitions
Preferred Positions
Last 24 months · all competitions
RB
Right-backMain
4,748 min · 68 apps · 52 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at Brentford · independent of the season filter
Important
Involvement88%
Performance43%
Through the match on 17 Oct 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Michael Kayode is a right-back who likes to carry the ball forward, using quick changes of direction to unsettle opponents. When he reaches a crossing position, he has described asking team-mates how they want the delivery, so the run has a purpose beyond gaining ground.
His long throw gives his side another route into the penalty area. Kayode reads the goalkeeper and defenders before choosing a delivery: a near-post target can create a flick-on, while a short throw can draw opponents deep and let him receive the ball back for a cross. It is a team option, not simply a test of distance.
Kayode spent part of his childhood in Juventus's academy, then played senior football with Gozzano while still a teenager. Gozzano won its Serie D group in 2020/21. Fiorentina brought him into their youth setup in 2021, giving him a route towards top-flight football after that early experience against adults.
His Serie A debut came in Fiorentina's August 2023 win at Genoa. He subsequently gained regular first-team minutes on the right of defence. Fiorentina reached the 2024 UEFA Conference League final, but Kayode was an unused substitute in the defeat to Olympiacos.
Italy provided an earlier defining moment. On 16 July 2023, Kayode started the European Under-19 Championship final against Portugal and headed in the only goal to win Italy the title. His far-post movement for that header showed a defender willing to attack space beyond the centre-forward when his side had the ball wide.
Brentford signed him on loan from Fiorentina in January 2025 and made the move permanent that May. He first entered games from the bench, then started the final six matches of the 2024/25 campaign. During 2025/26, his long throws became part of Brentford's chance creation, alongside his ball carrying and crossing. He was shortlisted for the Premier League Young Player of the Season award, which Nico O'Reilly won.
His international story took a further step on 28 September 2026. Kayode started against Türkiye on his senior Italy debut and scored in a 4-1 Nations League win. It added a senior international chapter to a career that had begun with an unusually early taste of adult club football.