19 January 2024 , 17:00
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Brentford stood by Ivan Toney while he served an eight-month ban for 232 breaches of betting rules – now he should repay them by firing the Bees to Premier League safety.
There is nothing wrong with ambition, and you can understand Toney expressing a wish to join one of the big guns, even before the January transfer window shuts. Manager Thomas Frank has confirmed Toney will start against Nottingham Forest, and captain the side, on his comeback, which is a terrific statement of faith in his striker.
But Toney already seems to be thinking about making his exit from Brentford, saying: “It's obvious I'd like to play for a top club, fighting for titles and these kinds of things, so whether it's this January for a club to come in and pay the right money, who knows?”
In an ideal world, and from the outside, the best solution looks something like this: Toney stays, scores the goals to keep Brentford in the top flight and gets his big-money move in the summer.
Everybody wins – the Bees keep their biggest asset in the short term, cash in on him as a Premier League player of maximum value in five or six months, and nobody loses out.
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As director of football at a club six divisions further down the pyramid, if my best player at Macclesfield returned from an eight-month absence and wanted to leave before the end of this month, I wouldn't let him go. And if that player resorted to sulking or chucking it in, I don't think his team-mates in the dressing room would stand for it.
I don't know Toney personally, but his goalscoring record speaks for itself. If Brentford sold him now for, say, £50million and they went down, the only winner would be Toney. The Bees would have to absorb the cost of relegation, Frank would probably lose other key players when the predators come calling in the summer and he would have to start over again in the Championship.
On the other hand, if Toney sticks around, scores 10 goals to earn an England call-up for Euro 2024 and his club banks a fourth season of Premier League football, it's the best-case scenario all round.
The last time Toney experienced the euphoria of scoring was on April 29 last year – ironically against Forest at the G-Tech Community Stadium – above all other considerations, he should be champing at the bit to get back on the goal trail.
I would be a bit concerned about Brentford's prospects in the relegation battle if they lost Toney, either in the transfer market or to injury, because they are only three points above the drop zone now. But his return should make all the difference to a side who have lost five of their last six games.
My old manager Steve Bruce always said that, in the Premier League, you are only as good as your strikers. Brentford have one of the best in Ivan Toney, and they remained loyal to him when he was unavailable to play for eight months.
Now he needs to reciprocate that loyalty and bang in the goals to keep them out of trouble.