Sutton warns ‘peak’ Toney against Saudi move

Brentford forward Ivan Toney should not move to Saudi Arabia while he is at his “peak”, says former Premier League striker Chris Sutton.

The Bees rejected a £35m bid for the 28-year-old from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli last week.

Brentford left Toney out of the side which beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Sunday because of “transfer interest”, but Sutton says the England striker should choose to stay in the Premier League.

“At this stage of his career, I think Saudi is a no-no,” Sutton told the BBC’s Monday Night Club on 5 Live.

“He has proven himself in the Premier League and he has all the attributes. His link up, his physicality, set-piece [ability] and his all-round play have developed really well.

“You can have all the money in the world but this is Ivan Toney at his peak and I would like to see him stay in the Premier League. I would go to Saudi Arabia when I was 35 and past it.”

Toney was part of the England squad which reached the European Championship final in the summer, despite missing the bulk of the season while he served an eight-month ban for breaking Football Association gambling rules.

“This is such a waste for Ivan Toney,” Sutton added.

“That doesn’t mean he can’t go to Saudi and then come back to the Premier League, but why doesn’t he just wait another season and then get a move? He’s 28, his career was flourishing then he had the ban, but then he had the high of the Euros at the summer.

“He is in a really good place at the moment. From Brentford’s point of view, at £50m, you can understand why they would sell him for that amount with a year left on his contract. Purely from a footballing perspective, that would be such a waste of him going to Saudi. Manchester United are striker-less at this moment in time, he would be a good fit there.”

Fellow Monday Night Club pundit, former England and Manchester City midfielder Izzy Christiansen, added: “From a footballing point of view, why has no-one signed Toney? He is fresh, in a good place and did well at the Euros when asked, so his stock should be quite high. Why are clubs in the Premier League not looking at Ivan Toney?”

Speaking on Sunday, Brentford manager Thomas Frank said it was “fair” to ask if it was a matter of when Toney leaves and not if.

But he added the striker’s departure from Brentford was “not close”.