Ivan Toney 28, returned in January from his eight month suspension, for having breached Football Association gambling rules. Brentford were able to hang on to him in the January transfer window, but that won’t likely happen again this summer.
And the London club will likely want to sell Ivan Toney this summer, or they’ll risk losing him for free in summer of 2025, given that his contract expires at the end of this season.
While Tottenham Hotspur are keen, but so are West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United (with Erik ten Hag now staying put, Toney is high on their summer transfer shopping list). So yeah, Ivan Toney is very much in high demand, with three other clubs, in London alone, on that list.
The bidding is supposed to start at around £80 million, but of course, the more interested parties, the higher the potential hammer price.
Next we turn to Conor Gallagher, 24, who has just one year left on his Chelsea deal. The southwest London club will sell him for the best offer, if the stellar midfielder doesn’t signa new deal.
They don’t want to risk their homegrown English international leaving next summer as a free agent; meanwhile Chelsea would get nothing in return.
Gallagher is expected to have a valuation of about £50m in this market, and any move will most likely have to wait until after he gets back from international duty with England at Euro 2024.
Despite the fact that then manager Mauricio Pochettino truly favored Gallagher for selection on his team sheet, he has been expected to leave for quite some time.
While both Tottenham and Aston Villa are interested, the Villans have one distinct advantage:
the chance to play UEFA Champions League football.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.