£25 million-rated Brentford striker Ivan Toney has admitted that he was ‘very close’ to joining Scottish giants Celtic, while speaking to talkSPORT (19 April, 8.30am).
If the Hoops could turn back the clock, you’d imagine that they would put a little more effort into ensuring Toney made that trip to Glasgow worth his while.
The one-time Newcastle United youngster is now one of the most prolific goal-scorers in the whole of British football, finding the net 29 times during his debut campaign at Brentford.
With the likes of Arsenal, Leicester City and West Ham United rumoured to be interested, Toney’s price-tag has soared from £9 million to £25 million in the space of some eight months (Sun, 21 February, page 62).
Speaking last summer, Peterborough United’s director of football Barry Fry admitted that Celtic had tried to sign his talismanic centre-forward, insisting that Toney would be a ‘revelation’ north of the border (Scottish Sun).
The Hoops were pipped to the post by Brentford, however, with the Bees swooping in when Celtic’s interested stalled.
“I was actually very close (to joining Celtic). I went up there and spoke to everybody. I was at the training ground, but I don’t think they were too keen on signing me,” said Toney, who has broken the 20-goal barrier in each of the last three seasons.
“It’s their miss now!”
It certainly is.
It is hard to imagine Celtic slipping so far behind bitter rivals Rangers in the Scottish Premiership table if they had a centre-forward as ruthless and clinical as Toney leading the line.
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