To The Pitch Prospect’s knowledge, Brentford have not received a formal transfer offer from Chelsea for Ivan Toney.
The Blues are likely to monitor Toney’s situation ahead of Friday’s transfer deadline as he is one of several potential striker options.
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Toney has verbally agreed to a lucrative £16 million-a-year contract with Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli, but so far no club has made an offer that matches Brentford’s £50 million asking price.
Chelsea may not be able to match the salaries in the Middle East, but they can offer Premier League football.
On Tuesday, Brentford’s Thomas Frank said in his press conference: “Today we have nothing to say about Ivan Toney.”
The Bees talisman has been excluded from his team’s games so far this season due to transfer interest.
Chelsea were interested in signing Victor Osimhen from Napoli, but the striker demands a salary of £500,000 a week.
If he were to join Al Ahli, Toney would earn £327,000 a week – so if he were to move to Chelsea, he would be cheaper than Osimhen but would still earn considerably more than he did at the Gtech Community Stadium.
However, there is a valuation gap between the two clubs. Al-Ahli rejected an offer of £35 million plus add-ons. Now they are willing to pay £40 million.
However, the Bees are insisting on a bid of £50 million.
And this despite the fact that the English international’s contract still has one year to run.
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Frank has previously confirmed that he expects the 28-year-old to leave in this transfer window.
“I’m always happy when the transfer window closes,” said Frank after his team’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. “Then I don’t have to talk about ifs and buts and whens and maybes, about many players and of course Ivan. It’s all about Ivan!”
Asked if a deal for Toney’s departure from Brentford was imminent, Frank said: “Very good question. I actually haven’t asked about it in the last two or three days, so I don’t actually know.”
“He trained well all week with a good attitude.”
Fans have speculated about Toney’s future in the England national team if he moves to Saudi Arabia.
A prime example of this was Jordan Henderson’s move to Al Ettifaq and his subsequent departure from the Three Lions team despite being an experienced player.
A move to Stamford Bridge would keep those dreams alive for Toney, who played only a few minutes at Euro 2024 but had a huge impact in his appearances, including in the penalty shootout against Switzerland.
Meanwhile, The Pitch Prospect’s Simon Jordan on Tuesday described Toney’s links to Saudi Arabia as “sad” and said the Bees striker should not be playing in an “uncompetitive league”.
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