Brentford accept £40m Toney bid from Saudi’s Al-Ahli

Brentford have accepted a bid of approximately £40 million from Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli for Ivan Toney. Sources close to the England forward expect the deal to be finalized soon.

Toney, 28, has not featured for Brentford this season, and manager Thomas Frank has already confirmed he will miss Saturday’s match against Southampton.

Al-Ahli’s initial bid of £35 million was rejected before the season started, and Toney has also been linked with Chelsea in recent weeks.

Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has also been rumored as a potential target for Al-Ahli. The Saudi transfer window remains open until 2 September, so Toney’s transfer does not need to be completed by the Premier League’s deadline of 23:00 BST on Friday.

If the transfer goes through, Toney would join a growing list of high-profile players moving to Saudi Arabia, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and Neymar.

Fellow England international Jordan Henderson made a similar move to Al-Ettifaq from Liverpool in July 2023 but later transferred to Ajax after six months.

Toney was part of Gareth Southgate’s England squad at Euro 2024, making three substitute appearances, including in the final against Spain.

He scored a penalty in the shootout victory over Switzerland, displaying his trademark confidence by scoring without looking at the ball.

Despite his success, Toney was omitted from interim England manager Lee Carsley’s squad for September’s Nations League matches.

He has earned six caps and scored one goal for the national team.

Toney had an impressive 2022-23 Premier League season, scoring 20 goals. He also netted four times in his first five matches last season after returning from an eight-month suspension for breaching FA betting rules.

Since joining Brentford from Peterborough in 2020, Toney has scored 72 goals in 141 games, including 36 goals and 11 assists in 85 Premier League appearances.

Toney has also scored 30 of the 32 penalties he has taken in his career.