West Ham United turned down chance to complete Ivan Toney transfer for £10m under David Moyes
West Ham United turned down the chance to sign Ivan Toney from Peterborough for £10million when he joined Brentford, according to Darragh MacAnthony.
The Hammers have been linked with a move for the England international ahead of the summer transfer window, with some suggesting it could take upwards of £60million to secure his signature from the Bees [The Sun, 19 March].
However, Peterborough chairman MacAnthony has revealed that the Irons were one of many teams offered the chance to sign Toney in the summer of 2024 for an up-front fee of only £6million.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Tuesday (2 April, 12:10) he said: “In the end, we did £6million plus £4million add-ons. We did it, but we wanted the money upfront. To be fair to Luke there was Brighton, West Ham a lot of clubs turned us down, we rang them.
“I had Barry (Fry) ring them all when I knew we were selling him and we were getting bids.”
Will West Ham United sign Ivan Toney during the summer transfer window?
West Ham United aren’t the only side wondering what might have been had they decided to cough up the money that Peterborough wanted way back when especially as they consider an expensive switch this summer.
While it easy to look back now and question why the Hammers didn’t pay the £10million required to secure the striker’s signature, it was unclear at that time whether Toney had what it took to be a force in the Premier League.
Now, it couldn’t be clearer that the 28-year-old is a top-flight footballer, but in the summer of 2020, he was a League One player who had never even managed to cut it in the Championship let alone the Premier League.
David Moyes’ current striker woes would have likely been brushed aside for the last few years had the Irons paid the fee required, but they were not to know just how good Toney would become in the future.
Hopefully, they can right their wrongs this summer and get a deal over the line before the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham come knocking on Brentford’s door.
In other West Ham news, Chris Sutton has shared a “phenomenal” Jarrod Bowen verdict in a new Gareth Southgate admission
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