Though it’s not a foregone conclusion at this point, it does seem highly likely that Ivan Toney will be leaving Brentford at some point.
Toney, who is coming to the end of his eight-month ban for breaking betting rules, could earn the Bees a pretty penny, and both Arsenal and Chelsea are thought to be interested in the player’s services.
Both the Gunners and the Blues will be in for a shock if they were hoping to be able to acquire Toney for a knockdown price.
Brentford director, Lee Dykes, has been completely transparent as to what he wants form any clubs wanting Toney to be leading their line in either January or from the start of next season.
“There should be interest, and maybe the time comes very shortly that Ivan moves on to another club,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Star.
“But they will have to pay a decent transfer fee to acquire his services because he is some talent.
“I am so excited for Ivan to come back because I see him out there in training and he is some player; it looks like he’s never been away. There’s a real ambition from him and I can see in his eyes that he’s going to be better than he’s ever been; I really believe that will be the case.
“Yes, there will be lots of interest in Ivan in January. Naturally, there should be. He was the third-highest Premier League goalscorer last season – one of them [Harry Kane] has gone to Germany now, so he’s up there as one of the best strikers in the division. He is in the top five in the world, in my opinion.”
A summer switch would seem to be the more likely scenario, for although Toney’s eye for goal wasn’t in question before his ban, eight months out of the game at the highest level may well have had an effect on his instincts.
It will surely take a while for him to regain that sharpness, and therefore there’s little point in buying a player in January that may not be back to his best until March/April time.
Far better to bring him in at the start of the summer window and have a full pre-season under his belt.