Key Celtic regret Ivan Toney now reportedly worth £35million

By David Walton

May 6, 2021

Key 2020 Celtic blunder Ivan Toney is now being valued at £35million, according to the Sun.

Toney has had the season of all seasons with Brentford in the Championship this season. In what’s been his debut campaign in England’s second-tier, Toney has rattled home 30 goals and 10 assists in 48 appearances [Transfermarkt].

Brentford signed the Englishman for an initial fee of £5m in the summer. However, with add-ons it could rise to £10m [Sky Sports]. In recent times, Toney discussed his failed move to Celtic in Four Four Two magazine [07/04, p50], when he said: “I spoke to a few people there, and I spoke to the manager, but just couldn’t get a deal over the line.”

Celtic instead went for Albian Ajeti, who’s only managed six goals this season [Transfermarkt]. When you reflect on the season overall, this is clearly the biggest transfer mistake we made in the summer.

And now, the Sun believes Brentford have slapped a meaty £35m price tag on the striker. West Ham and Chelsea are two of the clubs said to be monitoring the player ahead of a potentially massive summer transfer for him.

If anything sums up 2020/21, it’s Ivan Toney becoming a £35m player

Nothing sums up our season quite like that. Quite like our biggest transfer mistake being thrown in our face as much as possible.

Of course, that’s not to say if Toney signed on at Parkhead he would’ve been worth that much. This could just be the over-inflated English market playing up again. But it’s clear he would’ve been a monumental improvement on what we’ve currently got.

You can’t help but continuously watch his career with real intrigue. To think we were only small steps away from completing a transfer only for him to be snapped up by Brentford. It seems almost criminal now.

Ivan Toney: not short of ability or self-belief / (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Granted, hindsight is a wonderful thing. When we signed Ajeti and failed to bag Toney, there weren’t many complaints. Albian had a track record that suggested he should’ve made a much more positive impact here this season. It feels, as biblical as it sounds, that fate just didn’t want us anywhere near the title this season.

If we’d signed Toney and allowed Ajeti to head elsewhere, at this rate it could’ve been Ajeti who multiplied his value by nine times! That’s just how it’s been for us this season, and Toney’s new reported valuation won’t come as a surprise.

It’ll be interesting to see how his career kicks on from here. But from a Celtic perspective, whenever his name comes up, it’s only regret that fills your insides.

In other news, John Collins has addressed the Celtic captaincy situation.