Why eight-month Ivan Toney ban is actually terrible news for West Ham United ahead of the summer transfer window.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney has been banned from playing for eight months and fined £50,000, after admitting 232 breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules (Sky Sports).
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Now, that is clearly terrible news for Brentford, but I think it could have consequences for West Ham as well.
However, there could be a problem on the horizon for West Ham…
Why eight-month Ivan Toney ban is actually terrible news for West Ham
With the 27-year-old set to be missing from action until 2024 for the Bees, Thomas Frank will obviously be on the hunt for centre-forward reinforcements in the summer transfer window.
And according to a report from talkSPORT, Coventry City hitman Viktor Gyokeres is on Brentford’s radar as a potential Toney replacement.
The Bees have been playing some lovely stuff under Thomas Frank over the past couple of years, so it would be no surprise at all if the 24-year-old Swede is tempted into joining the west London club this summer.
Missing out on the Coventry striker would be a big blow for West Ham – he’d be the absolute perfect long-term Michail Antonio replacement for us.
Gyokeres is a really powerful centre-forward, a willing runner with fantastic movement and a top-class finisher to boot.
He’s available for around £20 million this summer (The Mirror), and that would be superb value for the Hammers as far as I’m concerned.
However the eight-month ban dished out to Ivan Toney a couple of days ago could really scupper West Ham’s plan to sign the Sweden international unfortunately.
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