Ivan Toney discussed a transfer with Rangers back in 2020 and the now-£100 million-rated Brentford striker is one of the ‘top five strikers in the world’ these days.
A lot has changed in Ivan Toney’s life since he travelled up to Glasgow and held face-to-face talks with Steven Gerrard three-and-a-half years ago.
Toney, at the time, was yet to prove himself outside of third tier football. Now an England international with a 20-goal Premier League season under his belt and a £100 million price-tag on his head, per Sky Sports, Brentford director Lee Dykes believes the late-blooming centre-forward has gone from dining out on bread and butter at London Road to securing seat at the top table with Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski.
Rangers held Ivan Toney talks in 2020
“There will be lots of interest in Ivan in January. Naturally, there should be,” Dykes tells the Brentford website.
“He was the third-highest Premier League goalscorer last season. (Kane) has gone to Germany now, so he’s up there as one of the best strikers in the division. (Toney) is in the top five in the world, in my opinion.
“So there should be interest, and maybe the time comes very shortly that Ivan moves on to another club. But they will have to pay a decent transfer fee to acquire his services because he is some talent.”
Toney has not played a single game this term due to an FA-imposed betting ban. That has not stopped the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea from expressing an interest, however, with a striker who would have set Rangers back a cool £5 million back in 2020 now valued at some £95 million more.
Brentford now value striker at £100 million
“I did speak to other clubs,” Toney told the Diary of a CEO podcast.
“I actually went up to Rangers. I spoke with the manager there, which was Steven Gerrard at the time.”
Toney admits that he had reservations about securing a first-team spot at Ibrox. Reservations which feel more than a little unfounded now, considering how his career would develop south of the border.
“They had two strikers at the time, and they were looking to get another one in,” Toney added. “So that would have been like four strikers. And the formation they played, the majority of the time, was one striker up top.”
