Everton target Ivan Toney strikes to clinch Premier League promotion with Brentford
Ivan Toney helped Brentford to Premier League promotion on Saturday afternoon in a result that could have major ramifications for Everton this summer.
The 25-year-old striker struck the opener at Wembley before Emiliano Mercondes doubled the lead 10 minutes later, and the Bees held out to beat Swansea City 2-0 in the Championship play-off final.
Toney was the Championship’s top goalscorer this season with 31 goals in the main standings before he netted another two in his side’s successful play-off campaign.
Everton are among a host of clubs that have been credited with an interest in the prolific marksman, and The Athletic reported earlier this month that the Blues were lining up a bid once his season had come to an end.
The time has now come after Brentford’s season concluded on Saturday, but we might find it difficult to prise Toney away now.
Gaining promotion into the Premier League is likely to see Brentford try to cling onto their top talents to avoid an immediate drop back down to the Championship next season, and their Wembley success will have landed them a big influx of cash.
Toney might feel he owes it to them to stay after just one season, plus he will be guaranteed a starting role there, something that is unlikely to be the case at Everton with Dominic Calvert-Lewin one of the first names on the Blues teamsheet after scoring 16 Premier League goals last season.
Even if Brentford do agree to sell, we could find ourselves languishing behind a few Premier League rivals for his signature.
Of course, Everton is a world-famous club that is a big pull for any player looking to further themselves, but our tame end to the finish won’t have Toney desperate to sprint off to Merseyside.
If we had secured European football then the allure would have been extremely strong, but our end-of-season implosion could cost us in the transfer market.
West Ham have also been linked with Toney [TEAMtalk], and they secured Europa League football next season after finishing sixth, six points ahead of us.
With European football and a much higher chance of first-team football, David Moyes’ side could pip us to the post.
The Ivan Toney transfer saga is sure to be one of this summer’s inevitable discussions that refuse to go away, and it will be interesting to see whether we firm up our interest now that Brentford’s fate has been established.
In other Everton news, this left-footed Toffees ace is on the verge of a major decision as clubs line up to sign him.
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