Brentford have set their asking price for currently-banned striker Ivan Toney, despite claiming that they will try and resist any offers for him!
Toney will not be playing for the Bees this year, as he completes an 8-month ban from football from the FA following his admittance of guilt to 232 breaches of their betting rules. He is due to return to action for Brentford in January of 2024.
He was recently joined by Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali, who was last month handed a 10-month ban for betting offences following an FA investigation, which will see him on the sidelines until August next year.
Despite Brentford voicing their reluctance to sell Toney, who they purchased from Peterborough for £5 million in September 2020, the club have put a price tag on him for any sides interested in him for the 2024 Summer transfer window.
By the time that transfer window comes around, Toney will have just a single year left on his contract at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Despite this, the club are asking for £80 million for the man who secured them 20 Premier League goals in 33 appearances last season.
Chelsea and Arsenal have both been reported as tracking the progress of Toney’s situation and may well be in positions to spend the money that Brentford are asking for, though the club insists they will do all they can to resist letting him go.
They may find that they have a hard job with such high-profile suitors looking to land their frontman, with former Arsenal man Ian Wright claiming that Toney would be the last piece of the Arsenal jigsaw – meaning the club may have additional incentive to pry him from Brentford.
Toney has been back in full team training ahead of his return to matches, and has even scored in a closed-doors friendly match.
How long he remains a Brentford Bee remains to be seen, with his situation in the Summer transfer window certainly worth keeping up with!
