This summer is likely to see a much busier transfer window than the one just experienced in January, with a number of strikers, including Brentford’s Ivan Toney, looking for a new home.
The Bees appear resigned to losing their hit-man but will almost certainly aim for a ‘best price’ scenario.
With only one year on his contract, the West Londoners aren’t in the best position to negotiate, but they could, if they wanted to, hold onto his registration for a further year.
That seems unlikely given how fair minded manager, Thomas Frank, comes across in interviews, but they’ll not want to give the player away.
At present, his future destination is unknown, as a lot would seem to depend on where any other wantaway strikers end up.
“Ivan Toney will not continue at Brentford after the summer. This is the expectation with one year left on his contract,” Fabrizio Romano said in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside.
“Ahead of the January transfer window, between October and November, Brentford were looking to ask for £60m-£65m for Ivan Toney. Then what happened?
“On the market, there were no other strikers available. Osimhen wasn’t available. Sesko wasn’t available and many others were not available, and so they decided to put a different price tag on Ivan Toney, something around £100m.
“No one made a proposal because they didn’t want to spend that money for a player who was out of contract in summer 25. So now, in the summer transfer window as the manager Thomas Frank mentioned, the idea is for Ivan Toney to join a top club.
“He’s had a new agent since August so let’s see what’s going to happen at Arsenal. They never made a proposal in January but he’s always been one of the players appreciated by the club.
“Let’s see what’s going to happen at Chelsea too because we know that Victor Osimhen is on the list.”
From Toney’s perspective, he will be 28 by the time the new season begins, an age where most players are believed to be in their footballing prime.
Should he move on, for a big fee or otherwise, there will be a level of expectation on his shoulders that he hasn’t been used to before.
If he’s able to handle that, and the increased scrutiny in his game and his personal life, he could go on to become a Premier League great.