Ivan Toney is currently out of the game due to a ban and will not be back in action this year. Despite that, nobody can deny his quality and when he does return to the pitch, one would expect him to start scoring goals once again. In recent years, he has proven to be one of Celtic’s biggest transfer misses.
Celtic were heavily linked with a move for Toney while he was still in the English League One, playing for Peterborough United. At one point, a move to Parkhead had even seemed close.
It did not end up materialising though and he moved to Brentford instead. The rest as they say is history.
Toney would break goalscoring records in the English Championship and guided Brentford to promotion. Since moving up to the Premier League, the striker has been impressive as well and it seems only like a matter of time before he ends up at one of the biggest teams in England.
Toney explains why he decided not to join Celtic
It appears that Toney had had discussions with both Celtic and the Rangers. But neither guaranteed him that he was going to be the main man.
As reported by the Daily Record, Toney said while speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett of Dragons’ Den:
"“I did speak to other clubs. I actually went up to Rangers and spoke with the manager there, which was Steven Gerrard at the time.“We spoke a bit, but there were two strikers at the time and they were looking to bring another one in, so there would’ve been four strikers. I think the formation that they played, the majority of the time was one striker up top. So I would have been third choice, something like this.“We went to Celtic, we spoke to Celtic and I think it was the same there. I’m one of three strikers or something like this. I think at the time when I was moving, I wanted to be the main guy. The crucial thing for me is playing games.“Even though I back myself when I’m competing with other strikers, I want to know when I go in, bursting through the door I’m the main man up front. It’s up to me and when I spoke to the manager at Brentford he pretty much said ‘you’re the main guy and I don’t see anyone taking your spot so make sure you produce the goods and it’s yours really’.”"
It is safe to say that the decision to join Brentford proved to be the right one for Toney. He has continued scoring goals on a consistent basis since, until his recent ban.
On the other hand, it is not hard to understand why Celtic might have been reluctant to view Toney as the main man upfront from the get-go. They had Odsonne Edouard at the time. In hindsight, it has proven to be the wrong decision.
Edouard would end up leaving for Crystal Palace in the summer of 2021. On the other hand, Celtic signed Albian Ajeti in 2020. We all know how things have turned out for the Swiss striker at Parkhead.