Leaving Newcastle was a ‘blessing’ for Ivan Toney, amid claim he could return

Add as preferred source on Google

In 2018, Ivan Toney left Newcastle for just £650,000. Four years later and he could return to the club for more than £30million.

That’s because the Telegraph claim that the striker is a summer target for Eddie Howe and co.

Newcastle are looking to add a new striker to their squad, and are reportedly interested in Brentford’s top scorer.

This has been Toney’s first real season in the Premier League, and he’s performed brilliantly. The 26-year-old currently has 12 league goals, which is the same amount as England captain Harry Kane.

However, this isn’t actually Toney’s first taste of top flight football. That came at Newcastle during the 2015/16 campaign, where he made two substitute appearances.

But that was as good as it got for Toney, who has seriously kicked on since his Toon departure.

Ivan Toney believes he wasn’t given a chance at Newcastle

He joined Peterborough in the summer of 2018, and quickly made up for lost time. He scored 16 goals in his first season, then 24 in his second.

And midway through his second season with the Posh, he spoke to Sky Sports about his time at Newcastle.

“When he came in I was injured at the time and he [Benitez] put the injured lads at the bottom end so it was kind of tough to take,” Toney said in 2020.

“Rafa is a great manager but personally I don’t think I was given that chance [to play]. That’s my opinion on it, others may feel different.

“It’s a game of opinions, if one manager doesn’t want you it doesn’t mean another doesn’t.

“It’s a blessing in disguise, I’ve come to Peterborough and found my feet again and doing well for myself.”

Time could be right for Toney to return

Toney was so good for Peterborough that he earned a move to Brentford, where he got even better. 31 goals in the Championship took the Bees to the top flight, where once again he’s hit double figures.

The past four seasons don’t reflect well on Newcastle, but perhaps they only tell half the story.

Toney didn’t get much of a chance at St James’ Park, but at the time did he deserve one? When Benitez arrived, the club were fighting to avoid relegation, and the Spaniard looked towards experience rather than youth.

And in the Championship, Newcastle had an incredible forward line. Dwight Gayle, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ayoze Perez, Daryl Murphy – there was no room for Toney.

He went out on loan, and didn’t really do much to prove he should be in the Toon first-team. It was only when he left permanently that he started to perform.

The move away from Newcastle truly was a ‘blessing in disguise’ for Toney. He’s a much better player now, and could return to St James’ Park with a point to prove.