Ivan Toney is prepared to let his Brentford contract run down if he does not land a big move this summer, talkSPORT understands.
England striker Toney will be a free agent at the end of next season and is showing no inclination to sign a new deal to keep in west London.
Arsenal considered a move for the £60million-rated 28-year-old, but look unlikely to follow up their interest with a firm bid, with their interest currently on defender Riccardo Calafiori.
Sources close to Toney are hoping Tottenham come forward with an offer before the end of the transfer window, while West Ham are another potential destination.
Toney is also on the radar of Saudi Arabian clubs.
He goes into the final year of his Bees contract off the back of a fine summer helping England to the Euro 2024 final.
Toney was an impact substitute for Gareth Southgate’s men as he supplied the assist for Harry Kane in England’s 2-1 win over Slovakia in the last 16.
The 28-year-old also scored an impressive no-look penalty in England’s shootout victory over Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
He’s been with Brentford since 2020, helping them to a first-ever appearance in the Premier League in the 2020/21 season.
Toney has helped stabilise them in the top flight with Brentford entering their fourth successive season in it.
Thomas Frank’s side struggled for large parts of last season with Toney serving a ban during the first half of it.
Toney started his career with hometown club Northampton Town but earned himself a move to the Premier League with Newcastle in the summer of 2015 aged 19.
However, he failed to break into the Magpies first-team having been shipped out on loan on six occasions during his three-year spell at Newcastle.
He dropped down to League One Peterborough United in the summer of 2018, where he excelled having scored 49 goals in 94 appearances.
Fine form for Posh saw Championship side Brentford come calling, the west London club paid up to £10million for Toney’s services in August 2020.
He settled in immediately at Brentford, firing in 31 goals as they earned promotion to the top flight for the first time since the 1946/47 season.
Toney has been excellent for Brentford, scoring 72 goals in 141 appearances.
He earned a first call-up to the England squad in March 2023 and was selected to represent them at Euro 2024 in Germany earlier this summer.
It appears Toney is angling for a move to Spurs but his former chairman at Peterborough Darragh MacAnthony urged West Ham to swoop in for forward.
“I think for me, the betting man [in me] would say, knowing what David Sullivan is like at West Ham, he’s always liked Ivan Toney,” MacAnthony told talkSPORT.
“He’ll try and basically get him at a dropped-down bargain offer from Brentford.
“And I know the Brentford people and they’d be like ‘no chance’. But I know Sullivan will try, and if he had any common sense he would.
Leave a Reply