WHZ View: Moyes doesn’t miss – Danny Murphy has it all wrong in Ivan Toney ‘gamble’ claim
Since re-joining West Ham in December 2019 not much has gone wrong for David Moyes and one of his strengths has been his eagle eye in the transfer market.
The Irons boss has brought in the likes of Tomas Soucek, Jarrod Bowen and Vladimir Coufal to outstanding effect with all three becoming key cornerstones of their rapid rise from relegation battlers to European contenders.
Arguably he has not missed with a single signing yet as all have contributed immensely, even Jesse Lingard who only joined at the end of January.
Eurosport recently reported that the Irons were ‘keeping an eye’ on Championship hot-shot Ivan Toney with a view to a summer swoop for the forward.
Speaking on talkSPORT’s ‘Drive’ programme [4pm, 16/02/21] Murphy expressed his doubts over a move for the Brentford striker, saying: “Toney is unproven. It would be a lot to shell out on a man who hasn’t scored in any top flight.
“I’d rather say to Bowen ‘you have a go down the middle’ because he’ll get goals. He knows where the back of the net is… I wouldn’t be taking that gamble (on Toney).
“Watkins is a good example but there are probably lots of examples of players who’ve come from the Championship who haven’t done what Watkins has done.”
Sorry Danny, but where do you think Bowen came from?
He was at Championship strugglers Hull before making the move to East London and had 16 goals in 29 Championship to his name before moving up the divisions.
By way of comparison Toney already has 23 in the same number of games at a similar age – so why can he not make the step up?
Furthermore Said Benrahma joined West Ham from the same club earlier this season and has shown flashes of brilliance.
Michail Antonio is the only senior striker at the club and guess where he moved from…that’s right, from Nottingham Forest in the Championship.
He has gone on to score 41 Premier League goals and adapted from a winger to a centre forward so to think a player that a player with the goal-scoring pedigree of Toney will struggle is laughable.
Who does Murphy wants us to sign? Erling Haaland? Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
While we want to be ambitious we also have to be realistic with signings and make sure they align with the wage structure and ethos around the club.
Under Moyes this is a side shorn of ego and we are better off for it.
Bringing in the right characters is vital to continue the progression at the London Stadium and signing someone as young and hungry to prove himself on the biggest stages as Toney would absolutely fit in with the profile of players Moyes is looking to attract.
Murphy even name-checked Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins as a ‘rare’ example of a Championship striker that has stepped up to the Premier League with aplomb.
He was actually Toney’s predecessor at Brentford and the man before him was Neal Maupay who hit double figures for Brighton last season, thus proving the success stories of strikers hailing from the Bees.
The best thing about Toney is that he is not just a goal scorer – he provides much, much more.
No Championship player has more than his nine assists which contributes to a combined total of 31 goal contributions, 11 more than any other player [Wyscout].
Ignore Murphy, Toney would be the perfect striker to complement and eventually replace Antonio at the London Stadium.
In other West Ham news, see the reaction of our Super Fans after the Jesse Lingard Show v Sheffield United.