Ivan Toney's World Cup snub paves way for Man Utd transfer

Suraj Radia

10 Nov 2022 10:26 CST
3 min read

The incredible 2020/21 stats of Brentford playoff hero Ivan Toney — © ProShots

Gareth Southgate announced his 26-man squad for the World Cup, with Ivan Toney’s notable omission the latest indicator that the Brentford striker may need a big transfer to benefit his England career.

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Toney has scored 20 Premier League goals since Brentford were promoted last season and the 26-year-old was a member of the squad for England’s most recent games in the Nations League.

While Harry Kane will be England’s undisputed starting striker, the battle to be his understudy was anyone’s to win, with Newcastle’s Callum Wilson eventually getting the nod over the likes of Toney, Tammy Abraham and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

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Having proven his ability as a Premier League scorer, England’s loss could be United’s gain, with a well-rested Toney now a prime candidate for a winter move.

Toney was strongly linked with a move to Manchester United during the summer and a switch to Old Trafford could be the striker’s best chance to ensure he doesn’t completely fall out of England contention.

With Toney’s pricetag also now set to avoid ‘World Cup inflation’, a January move could be beneficial for both the player and a potential club to sign a motivated, proven goal-scorer in the prime of his career.

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So close yet so far for Toney

Although Toney has scored more goals than any English player outside of Harry Kane since the start of last season, eight of his 20 goals have come from the penalty spot.

Wilson, meanwhile, has one less goal from open play in the same amount of time but in significantly less gametime due to injury, scoring every a non-penalty goal every 197 minutes compared to 339 for Toney.

Toney, however, represents a move like-for-like alternative to Kane due to his aerial ability and tendency to drop deeper and influence all phases of play, compared to the pure goalscoring prowess of Wilson.

Ultimately there is not much between the two and a team such as United could capitalise on Toney’s stock perhaps dropping and making a shrewd move for a player who easily could have been playing at the World Cup.

With United hunting for a long-term successor to Cristiano Ronaldo, Toney's record for a 'lesser' team would place him among the top scorers at Old Trafford and there may be no better opportunity to capitalise on his disappointment by signing a proven Premier League striker.