David Provan has given his take on Celtic’s reported pursuit of Ivan Toney in The Scottish Sun.
The Celtic legend believes that the Glasgow giants’ reported interest in Toney is bad news for Leigh Griffiths.
According to a report in The Daily Record on July 28, 2020, the Hoops made a bid of £5 million for the former Newcastle United striker.
However, according to the report, Peterborough United turned down the offer from Celtic.
Provan wrote in The Scottish Sun: “Celtic’s pursuit of Ivan Toney is more revealing. Celts aren’t going to splash upwards of £5million on a striker to leave him on the bench. I don’t think Lennon is counting on Griffiths this season.
“Managers will only put up with mavericks if they’re doing the business. Pity, because Griffiths should be in the best shape of his life right now. Having put his mental health issues behind him, a crack at ten in a row should be mouth watering. Instead, he let himself and Lennon down badly.
“Griffiths’ popularity among Hoops punters won’t matter. At Celtic you don’t get by on reputation. Those stunning Hampden free-kicks against Joe Hart were a long time ago. With Patryk Klimala emerging as a partner for Odsonne Edouard, Toney’s arrival would be more bad news for Griff.”
Stepping up
Toney is one of the best strikers in the lower leagues in England, and the 24-year-old scored as many as 24 goals in League One this past season, according to BBC Sport.
The 24-year-old is unlikely to join Celtic if he is not at least assured of standing a good chance of playing regular first-team football.
Odsonne Edouard is clearly the best striker on the books of the Glasgow giants at the moment, meaning that Griffiths will have to step up and make the most of the chances he gets to show manager Neil Lennon that he remains on top of his game.
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