Manager claims reported 24-goal Celtic target is ‘undoubtedly’ his league’s best player

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Scottish Premiership champions Celtic are reportedly watching Peterborough United’s £9m striker Ivan Toney.

Reported Celtic target Ivan Toney is ‘undoubtedly’ the best player in League One right now, Peterborough United manager Darren Ferguson has claimed to Peterborough Live.

While Newcastle United’s £40 million record signing cannot buy a goal for love nor money right now, a man who left St James’ Park by the back door is in the form of his life.

Toney has hit the target a remarkable 26 times in all competitions, including 24 in 32 league games, to fire Peterborough into promotion contention. But regardless of which division the Posh find themselves in by the time 2020/21 kicks off, keeping hold of their prolific centre-forward will be easier said than done.

A host of Premier League clubs have been linked so far while the Record reported recently that Celtic have sent scouts to the London Road to watch the rangy centre-forward in action.

And, if you ask Ferguson, Toney is worth every penny of that £9 million price-tag (Sun, 6 January, page 53).

“He will improve further and I am just delighted we have him here as he is undoubtedly the best all-round player in League One,” says Ferguson, who ranks the 23-year-old alongside Dwight Gayle and Britt Assombalonga as the best striker he has ever worked with.

“He scores all sorts of goals. He scores with either foot from all sorts of distances and he scores with his head.

“I’m lucky to have managed so many top strikers, but I didn’t foresee Ivan becoming this good so quickly when I walked through the door 14 months ago. He’s too much for League One defenders to handle.”

It remains to be seen whether Toney, who would become the joint-most expensive signing in Celtic’s history if he moves to Parkhead in the summer, is capable of making a substantial step up next season.

But if the technically-gifted target man is scoring goals for fun against Wycombe, Oxford and co, he should have few problems when up against Hamilton, Ross County and St Mirren.