Brentford have received an approach from a Saudi Arabian club for striker Ivan Toney.
The club is understood to be Al Ahli, whose squad includes Riyad Mahrez, Edouard Mendy and Roberto Firmino
An offer has been made but the Premier League side have not accepted anything yet and – as things stand – nothing is close to being agreed.
Toney was not selected in Brentford’s squad for their Premier League opener on Sunday against Crystal Palace due to the interest but also because he had not undergone a full pre-season due to being granted extra time off after featured for England at Euro 2024.
However, Toney was only on the field for 42 minutes at Euro 2024. Declan Rice played every minute for England in Germany yet started for Arsenal in their win over Wolves on Saturday, while Marc Guehi was also in the Palace XI despite starting all but one of England’s fixtures.
Brentford beat Palace 2-1 without Toney, with forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa finding the net.
Bees manager Thomas Frank explained Toney’s omission from the squad, telling Sky Sports: “There’s a lot of things going on with Ivan, there’s some transfer interest. Because of all that, we decided not to involve him in the squad.
“It’s the classic one – I couldn’t give too much the day before. He’s been a fantastic player for us, but we showed last year especially that we can deal without him.”
When asked if this is the end of Toney in a Brentford shirt, he added: “Who knows? There’s interest, but there’s nothing close.”
Redknapp: Brentford’s last chance to get genuine money
Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp on Super Sunday:
“Toney has a year left on his contract, so it is Brentford’s last chance to get some genuine money for him and he is looking at his options.
“A year ago, he had a lot more than he has now, we thought he would go to Arsenal, but that did not happen. Chelsea have looked at him and not gone for him, but I feel that Saudi Arabia is an opportunity for him, there is interest there.
“Or he could sit and see out his contract and leave as a free agent next year, but he probably wants to do something now.”
The news Brentford fans all feared
Sky Sports’ Ron Walker at the Gtech Community Stadium:
“The absence of Toney’s name from the teamsheet sent a ripple of interest around the Gtech at 12.45pm, with Brentford fans fearing the worst but hoping it was just a minor niggle or something else innocuous ruling him out.
“With Frank’s interview coming up only minutes later, it was left to the manager to deliver the bad news of exactly why Toney did not feature – and that he may have played his last game for the club.
“It turns out Frank was keeping his cards extremely close to his chest during his pre-match press conference on Friday, when he said Toney would be fit and available to play.
“Now we know he was aware of the interest in him even then, and quite possibly already knew he wouldn’t feature on Sunday.”