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A football club chairman believes he knows who will win the race between Spurs and West Ham for striker Ivan Toney.
West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly the final contenders for Ivan Toney this summer. Previously, it seemed Arsenal was the frontrunner for the Brentford and England star. However, Arsenal recently withdrew their interest after a meeting with Toney went poorly, giving hope to West Ham and Spurs.
West Ham is currently prioritizing the signing of a new striker. Journalist Graeme Bailey has confirmed West Ham’s interest in Toney, while Tottenham is looking to offload Richarlison as they search for a successor to Harry Kane.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has made it clear to Daniel Levy that he wants a new striker. This has set up a battle between West Ham and their rivals Tottenham for Toney, with various claims circulating but little concrete information. For instance, it was recently claimed that Spurs had outbid West Ham for Toney, but Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg stated that Toney could be leading the line for West Ham next season, with Brentford asking between £30-40m.
A new report from The Sun confirms that it is now a two-way fight between West Ham and Spurs to sign the 28-year-old. A club chairman believes he knows who will win this battle for Toney. West Ham’s majority owner, David Sullivan, has long regretted not signing Toney from Peterborough for just £10m on the advice of his close friend Barry Fry. Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony, a successful businessman who knows Sullivan well, revealed Sullivan’s deep regret over missing out on Toney.
MacAnthony believes Sullivan will not make the same mistake again and backs West Ham to beat Tottenham to Toney. “For me, the betting man would say, knowing what Sullivan is like at West Ham, he has always loved Ivan Toney,” MacAnthony said on talkSPORT on July 19. “He (Sullivan) will try and basically get him at a bargain price from Brentford. And I know that Brentford people will be like, ‘no chance.’ But I know Sullivan will try, and if he had any common sense, he would because that would be the best signing West Ham have made in 12 years instead of some foreign players for £70 million who couldn’t hit a barn door.”
MacAnthony’s suggestion that Sullivan could get Toney for a knock-down price is not far-fetched. Toney, who turns 29 next season, has seen his value decrease with clubs like Arsenal and Chelsea dropping out of the race following his ban for breaking betting rules. Brentford has also made things difficult for themselves by signing Toney’s replacement, Igor Thiago, back in February. Normally, securing a replacement before selling a star player is good business, but in this case, West Ham and Spurs know Brentford cannot go into next season with Toney on the bench behind his heir, giving the buying clubs an advantage in negotiations.
Toney, a latecomer to the Premier League, has scored 36 goals in the top flight over the last three seasons. He has played in all four professional leagues in England for various teams, with a career tally of 164 goals in 408 games.
