West Ham must throw their hat in the ring for Brentford star Ivan Toney after a Thomas Frank admission.
West Ham fans – and majority owner David Sullivan – need no reminder of their huge Ivan Toney mistake.
The Hammers were offered Toney on a silver platter for just £10m while he was at Peterborough United.
Sullivan is very close with Posh director of football Barry Fry, as was his sadly passed former West Ham co-owner David Gold.
Peterborough owner Darragh MacAnthony revealed a couple of years ago that Sullivan told him he will forever regret not taking matters into his own hands by signing the striker Brentford snapped up for a bargain £10m.
Sullivan’s biggest regret
“Tell a quick story,” MacAnthony said on his podcast The Hard Truth.
“David Sullivan rang Barry [Fry] today (Feb 2001) and Baz rang me laughing and he said ‘I wished I’d listened to you in the summer (2000)!’
“Because David Moyes did like Ivan Toney a lot. He said ‘that boy is probably going to go for £30 million plus in the summer.”
Painful context to the snub comes in that fact West Ham signed Jordan Hugill for £9m.
Toney was being touted for a £60m move to Arsenal in the January window.
But after his return from an eight month ban, that never materialised during what was a deathly quiet market across the board.
There is a feeling in some quarters that Toney’s shot at a “big” move to a Champions League club may now have passed him by. Especially when you consider he turns 29 next season.
West Ham must throw hat in the ring for Toney after Frank admission
His contract has one year left to run this summer, bringing the price Brentford can command right down.
West Ham fans are hugely frustrated by their club’s inability to bring in a new striker and make it work over the last few years. And Jarrod Bowen looks increasingly wasted as a forward.
Well the club should not make the same mistake twice.
West Ham must throw their hat in the ring for Brentford star Toney after a Thomas Frank admission.
The Bees boss has confirmed Toney will most likely be sold in the summer due to his contract situation.
“It’s quite obvious that Ivan Toney will most likely be sold in the summer,” Frank has told Danish magazine Tipsbladet.
“It can be expensive to sell your best player. But I also know that by the summer, he’ll only have a year left on his contract with us.
“This winter, we actually had no bids for him, but it would surprise me if there aren’t a lot of clubs interested in him.”
Answer to all West Ham’s problems
West Ham should have room and the finances to spend big this summer. So why can’t they make a push for a striker many feel is perfect to play in David Moyes’ team.
Especially if West Ham have European football to offer once again.
Chelsea are also being linked. But they are in a mess and face potential charges over FFP which hardly make them the most attractive proposition for a player right now.
Toney would take West Ham’s game to another level as Moyes and co search for a successor to Michail Antonio.
While it may seem unlikely, as the old saying goes if you don’t ask, you don’t get.
Reports in January claim West Ham are willing to pay over £50m for Nigerian striker Victor Boniface.
A similar amount could be enough to land Toney in the summer. And there would be no worries about adapting to the league.
Passing up on signing Toney for a paltry £10m – given the club’s neverending search to find a top quality striker who has a bit of everything – is one of West Ham’s most regrettable transfer calls.
The Hammers cannot afford to pass up the opportunity to at least try and redeem themselves this summer.
Toney is the answer to all West Ham’s striker problems down the years.
So we must ask the question.
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