Garth Crooks was left stunned by how good Brentford’s Ivan Toney looked on his return at the weekend.
This comes at a time when Chelsea are frequently linked with him in the transfer rumour mill.
Ivan Toney, 27, made his first appearance since last May during Brentford’s 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
The striker’s been suspended for eight months for breaching betting regulations, but he made up for lost time by starting and scoring for the Bees a few days ago.
Now, everyone’s intrigued to see where he’s playing his football for the second half of the season.
BBC pundit Garth Crooks was simply blown away by the quality of Toney in Brentford’s most recent win.
“It was a dream return for Brentford striker Ivan Toney on Saturday: A 3-2 win at home to a very dangerous Nottingham Forest. A superbly taken free-kick was the highlight of an overall display that belied the fact he’d been absent for eight months. It was about as impressive as it gets,” Crooks told BBC Sport.
“We know Toney can score goals – but his ability to see the pass or merely exploit a situation is also a part of what good strikers do. He played like he had never been away. Toney did well not to let the fanfare over his return affect his game. He took the entire affair in his stride and the captain’s armband suited him.”
Super impressive Ivan Toney
The spotlight was already firmly on Toney before his impressive weekend performance.
Brentford star Toney told Sky Sports last week that his desire is to play for a bigger club that competes for trophies.
Sky Sports reported a couple of months ago that Brentford would demand £100 million to sell their frontman.
Meanwhile, journalist Simon Phillips recently claimed via Substack that Chelsea’s owners internally discussed Toney as a possible target.
There’s no doubt in our mind that Toney could walk straight through the doors at Stamford Bridge and make a positive impact from day one. The 27-year-old’s entering his prime years and would help this young group of players.
However, we’ll have to wait and see if this deal is financially possible.
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