West Ham United are planning another raid of Brentford with Ivan Toney lined up to replace Sebastian Haller at the London Stadium, according to Eurosport.
Considering the Hammers signed the Bees’ star man Said Benrahma as recently as October, you can see why the Premier League high-flyers would be keen to strike up a friendly working relationship with their London neighbours.
Especially given that Toney is not short of admirers at West Ham; emerging as one of the club’s top transfer targets ahead of the upcoming summer window.
The one-time Newcastle youngster has been nothing short of a revelation since joining Brentford in a £10 million deal from Peterborough United, scoring 22 times in his debut Championship season.
In fact, Toney is just three short of the tally produced by Ollie Watkins prior to his £28 million move to Aston Villa.
We can only assume that Brentford will demand a similarly hefty fee for the most feared striker in the second tier.
Toney has also been linked with Arsenal recently. But West Ham are keen to ensure that, with a bidding war likely to take place in the near future, their relationship with Brentford will give them the edge.
That, according to Eurosport, is why West Ham allowed Winston Reid to join the Championship title-chasers on loan last month.
Something of an ‘I’ll scratch your back, you sell me your star striker’ situation.
“He’s playing with better players now, and as a striker you’re only as good as your teammates to some extent as he’s getting better service now,” said former West Ham ace Dean Ashton, who is backing Toney to score a Championship-record 35 goals this season (Quest).
“But what’s impressed me most is that even when he stopped scoring for a while, he was contributing, assisting, leading the line.”
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