Ivan Toney: A Quality Striker Wasting Away | OneFootball

Ivan Toney is a proper goalscoring forward who ought to be competing on Europe’s center stage, but the now 29-year-old has chosen money over the sport he has devoted his life to.

Ivan Toney’s success was not instant

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Toney came through Northampton Town’s academy and became their youngest ever debutant at 16 years old, a record which has since been broken by Josh Tomlinson. Newcastle United saw his potential and signed him when he was 19, but during his three years at the Magpies he spent most of his time on loan at various English Football League clubs.

After three years of failing to break onto the Premier League scene, Toney made a permanent move to Peterborough United in League One. This would go on to be an excellent decision on his part, as he scored 49 goals in 94 appearances and was named the League One player of the year.

Brentford

Only two years on from his £650,000 ($840,000) move to Peterborough, Toney joined  Championship side Brentford in a deal worth £10m ($13m) with add-ons. He quickly made his mark in England’s capital city, breaking the record for most Championship goals in a season as he found the back of the net 31 times.

Toney then scored in the Championship play-off final which helped secure his side promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their 130-year history.

He continued to progress in his career, bagging 12 goals and five assists in his first full season in England’s top flight and registering 20 goals and four assists in his second. It was during this second second he was called up to the English national team for the first time.

Betting scandal and soccer ban

The greatest season of Toney’s life had a sour ending as the striker admitted to placing bets on various soccer matches, including games he played in. As a result, he was banned for eight months and did not make another appearance until January the next year.

Toney failed to reach his former heights once he returned, managing just four goals and two assists in 17 league appearances.

Back on track, but not for long

Despite his disrupted season, Toney was selected in England’s Euro 2024 squad. He may not have spent much time on the pitch, but he did assist Harry Kane in extra time against Slovakia to prevent his country from a huge upset.

However, Toney fired himself into irrelevancy by joining Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League. A move to an inferior league just when things were beginning to look more positive for the center-forward.

Al-Ahli

Toney has been scoring goals for fun in Saudi Arabia, but at what cost? He has not been selected in Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad as manager and at the age of 29, he may not get another opportunity to join an elite European team. This seems a disappointing conclusion for a player who grew up supporting Liverpool, one of the world’s most decorated teams.

The goal machine may be earning a hefty salary, but he has never made a UEFA Champions League appearance and has only played a handful of games for his country. Toney undoubtedly has talent, yet the highlight of his career could be scoring 20 goals for a mid-table Premier League club.