Newcastle United target Ivan Toney is ‘destined’ to leave Brentford and sign for someone else in January.
That is the view of an anonymous agent speaking to the Athletic, who thinks Toney is all but certain to change clubs when the transfer window reopens at the beginning of 2024.
Toney is currently banned after breaching the FA’s betting regulations, but is due to be available again from January 16th.
While a return will be excellent news for Brentford, they are actually resigned to losing him next year. They intend to get a big fee, however, and value the 27-year-old at £80million.
Whether or not that is too much for Newcastle to re-sign the striker remains to be seen, but Toney has been linked with a return to St James’ Park. Football Transfers recently reported that the Magpies are considering a move for Toney and have spoke to his representatives.
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It would be surprising to see Newcastle launch a bid in January, but one agent has hinted that it might be Eddie Howe’s only chance of signing the England international.
Ivan Toney ‘destined’ to be sold in January
The Athletic have spoke to multiple agents anonymously following the closure of the summer transfer window, and looked towards some deals that could happen in January.
And one agent is certain that Toney is going to be on the move.
“It’s destined to happen when he gets back (after his ban) and (the deal) can get sorted whilst he’s out,” they told the Athletic.
“Good for him and maybe even Brentford too.”
Newcastle transfer would be a shock
While Toney would be an excellent signing for Newcastle, it would be a huge shock if he does return to St James’ Park in the New Year.
The Magpies already have two top class strikers in Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson, so it would be a strange use of resources to break the club’s transfer record and spend £80million on Toney.
That would give Howe three incredible goalscorers. He would have amazing depth, but would have to leave two of them on the bench every week.
While Newcastle might be keen, a January deal is surely not going to happen. If the Magpies do sign a striker, it will be someone much younger who will not expect to play every week ahead of Isak or Wilson.