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Ivan Toney can’t wait to get back into action.
Brentford’s returning striker Ivan Toney can’t hide his relief after ending a ban that kept him out of football for eight months.
The Bees talisman, who has been at the center of transfer talks so far in January, saw his ban come to an end on 16 January and will play in Gtech Community Thomas Frankand#039’s clash with Nottingham Forest. Stadium on Saturday. Toney, who scored goals for fun in practice games, returns at a crucial time for the club, who are unbeaten in their last seven games.
Having committed his immediate future to the West London side last week, Toney took to social media at 8:34 am on Wednesday to celebrate the end of his ban with a simple message online. Writing on X, the England international shared a simple GIF of a character exclaiming the word and#039;Free!and#039;.
The strikerand#039;s last appearance for the club came in a 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield in May 2023, which ended a season in which he plundered 20 Premier League goals. Toney was then banned from the sport for eight months after admitting 232 breaches of the FAand#039;s betting rules. He was also fined £50,000.
The player’s long-term future at Brentford is up in the air, with Arsenal and Chelsea both willing to pay the £100m asking price for the goalscorer. Despite reports about him this month, however, it appears to be a summer signing with the Bees desperate to keep their star man out of the relegation battle and interested parties wary of financial fair play.
Toney himself appeared to pour cold water on a potential January move last week when he pledged allegiance to Thomas Frank and his side. He told Sky Sports: “The club was behind me from the start. The fans were behind me, which was a big part.
andquot;Even though I wasn’t in their games, they sang my name. And I got a lot of messages on social media. My friend sent me a video of fans chanting my name. I let the goose know they were still behind me even though I wasn’t there. Everyone knows Brentford are a family club, they have been nothing but fantastic for me. I can’t thank them enough, especially the fans. They were behind me from the first minute as well. So itand#039;s kind of like I have a lot to repay.andquot;.
