Ivan Toney has previously been vocal about his desire to move on from Brentford. A couple of times, the striker has been caught out on social media making rather brazen statements. His wish may well come true as the heavily funded Newcastle United are said to be interested in signing him.
As per Luke Edwards of Telegraph Football, after being snubbed in the race for Darwin Nunez, Newcastle’s attentions have now turned towards Ivan Toney.
Ivan Toney is Now Newcastle’s Number One Target
Where Would he Fit in at St James’ Park?
These rumours of Ivan Toney being a Newcastle target come just months after the club spent a sizeable amount on Chris Wood. The New Zealand striker was signed from Burnley in January for around £25 million. Not to mention that Callum Wilson is still at the club and is viewed as the main man up front, when he isn’t injured. Joelinton now adopts a deeper role and Dwight Gayle features infrequently so it would seem that the Brentford man would be in and around just Wood and Wilson.
Exclusive: Newcastle United to target Brentford's Ivan Toney after Darwin Nunez snub | @LukeEdwardsTelehttps://t.co/ZQvpQRvRDU
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) April 19, 2022
Eddie Howe favours a one-striker system for the Magpies. In their last outing, in which a Bruno Guimaraes brace saw them past Leicester City, Wood was the man upfront with Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron either side of him. So, whilst Newcastle have had injections of millions of pounds, buying Ivan Toney would lead to either a change in shape or one of their very capable strikers being reduced to a backup role.
Who Else Could Newcastle Turn to?
As previously mentioned, Darwin Nunez was the original target for Newcastle. This is no longer feasible though “as they believe the Uruguay international wants to join a Champions League club.” Talking of Champions League clubs and there are several interested in the Benfica wonderkid also. In England alone, Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham United are all said to be monitoring Nunez but all three could miss out on a coveted top spot at the hands of Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur.
Goal n. 32 for Darwin Núñez this season. He’s prepared to leave in the summer, price tag around €75/80m and there’s a new agent now working to move him in June. 🔴🇺🇾 #UCL
Credit to Benfica as they refused €45m in January to keep Darwin.
And he’s still 22, not a detail. pic.twitter.com/GZePGufvme— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 13, 2022
If Nunez and Ivan Toney were both to be out of the picture, the club could potentially turn to a previous target. “Newcastle are also planning to make another attempt to sign the exciting young French forward Hugo Ekitike after a move for the 19-year-old collapsed on deadline day in January. A transfer, worth an initial £12m to Reims, had been agreed with his club, but the teenager was reluctant to make the switch to England having only recently broken into the first team.”
It seems unlikely that all that much will have changed just half a year on or so with Ekitike still on the road to making himself an integral long stay in the Reims XI. This would then point the ticker back towards Ivan Toney and “Newcastle are set to prioritise the signing of a striker in the summer”, Wilson’s injury woes clearly being a prominent issue.
Ivan Toney and Brentford are safe and will be playing Premier League football once again next year. But could the forward be doing it for another team? Newcastle would definitely be a lucrative proposition given the infrastructure of the club along with its history, finances, and the player’s desire to slew his current employer.
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