The striker will return from an eight-month suspension in January but wants a new challenge
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Ivan Toney wants a new challenge when he returns from his betting ban, say reports, with Arsenal and Chelsea linked with a January swoop.
The England international was handed an eight-month suspension from football in May after breaching the FA’s rules on betting.
Toney will be allowed to return to the pitch from 17 January 2024, but Fabrizio Romano reports that he might not be wearing a Brentford shirt by that point.
Toney will return from suspension in January (Image credit: Getty Images)
The striker has signed with new representatives Stellar and is said to be chasing a new opportunity from the turn of the year.
Arsenal and Chelsea have been informed of what a deal could cost them in January or next summer, by which time he will be in the final year of his deal with the Bees.
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Toney’s ban came after an impressive season on the pitch, where he scored 20 goals in 33 Premier League games to earn his first England cap.
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But he was suspended and fined £50,000 after being found guilty of 232 breaches of the FA’s betting rules.
Toney, 27, scored 68 goals in 124 games for Brentford before his suspension including 32 in his first two seasons in the Premier League.
The striker is valued at £30 million by Transfermarkt.
Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
