Brentford striker Ivan Toney on Everton shortlist ahead of January – report
Everton have reportedly set their sights on Brentford centre-forward Ivan Toney, according to Italian football website CalcioMercato.
Toney, 24, joined the Bees from Peterborough in September and has since scored 13 goals in 15 Championship appearances for the West London club.
He’s now supposedly emerged on the radar of the Toffees but CalcioMercato’s report says little other than the striker is on “Everton’s notebook”.
We’re not sure why an Italian football website would be reporting this – other than the fact Carlo Ancelotti is the Everton manager – but Toney’s scintillating start to the season is bound to lead to transfer speculation ahead of the January window reopening next month.
According to stats by WyScout, Toney is the second-highest goalscorer in the Championship this season, behind Blackburn’s Adam Armstrong, who’s scored 14 times.
Despite scoring so many goals, the ex-Peterborough striker ranks down in 27th for shots-per-90 minutes [2.19], which shows how incisive he can be when he gets a chance inside the penalty area.
Interestingly, Toney has scored more headed goals than any other player in the Championship [4].
Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin leads the way in the Premier League for headed goals [4] so Toney’s ability to score headers could be a reason why he’s emerged on Everton’s transfer wishlist ahead of January.
Everton have scored more goals from headers than any other team this season in the top-flight [7] so it would make sense to sign someone who’s good in the air like Toney.
The Blues create a lot of chances from out wide – especially for Lucas Digne.
Signing Toney would make sense and he could fit Everton’s system as a back-up for Calvert-Lewin but would he leave promotion-chasing Brentford, where he’s a starting striker, to sit on Everton’s bench in the Premier League?
We doubt it. And we also doubt that Brentford would have any interest in their prolific centre-forward.
In other Everton news, Marcel Brands is likely to sign a new contract at Goodison despite Manchester United’s reported interest.