Ivan Toney’s future in west London may be affected by Brentford’s concern that club record acquisition Igor Thiago will miss the first few weeks of the new campaign due to a right knee injury sustained in a friendly against AFC Wimbledon last Saturday.
Thiago scored twice in the first half of the match to help Thomas Frank’s team win 5-2. The 23-year-old attacker left the game as scheduled before halftime, but he later had pain around his right knee’s meniscus.
Despite having a scan earlier in the week, Thiago went to Lisbon for Brentford’s preseason tour. They have a friendly match against Estrela da Amadora on July 30 and a match versus Benfica on Thursday night. Thiago has been receiving physical therapy and will not participate in either fixture.
Beginning next week, the forward will undergo another scan on his knee to see if he needs surgery or if he will miss the start of the 2024–25 season. Thiago injured his right knee’s medial ligament in May, and he has just recently fully recovered. He was hurt during a game when Antonio Nusa, his Club Bruges teammate at the time, bumped into him.
In February, Brentford confirmed that Thiago, in a €36.5 million transfer, had joined from Belgian team Bruges. Since he is thought of as Toney’s replacement, his injury may have an effect on the England international’s future. With only a year left on his contract, the 28-year-old wants to leave this summer. Toney, who has scored 72 goals in 141 games since joining Brentford for £5 million in August 2020, may be held onto if Thiago is down for an extended amount of time.
What is the latest on Toney’s transfer status?
From Adam Leventhal in the latest edition of The Athletic’s DealSheet
Brentford would prefer to sell Toney this summer for what they believe to be fair market value rather than have him depart on a free transfer in eleven months.
Toney’s valuation would have ranged from £80 million to £100 million ($103.4 million to $129.2 million) in the summer of last year, but his injury and long-term betting ban have altered that. According to sources at his club, his worth might reach above £50 million, given external interest.
Toney does not need to be sold by Brentford. The England international has expressed a desire to transfer to a “top club, competing for trophies”, but there have not been any discussions around him on a club-to-club basis.
Thiago, who signed in February as part of the succession planning, would gain from Toney remaining. Thiago, a player without Premier League experience, would be under less pressure if the current first-choice striker was included in the squad. Brentford would be content to rely on Thiago in spite of that.
Toney is someone to keep an eye on even with the absence of formal attention. Selling him makes sense for the club, and others close to the player—who wish to stay nameless to preserve relationships—think this could be the quiet before the storm. Manchester United has internally explored moving for him, so if one team moves, expect others to follow soon after.
(Christopher Lee/Getty Images)
