Reports (Daily Record) in the final week of January had emerged that Celtic were keeping tabs on Peterborough United’s in-form striker Ivan Toney. Reports had mentioned that Celtic had sent scouts and they had seen him from close quarters in two games. However, nothing materialised by the end of the window and Toney is still with the League One outfit.
Toney has been in scintillating form for the Posh as he has bagged 21 goals and six assists in 35 appearances in all competitions this season. The striker has even been linked (The Sun) with a move to Premier League club Bournemouth who are seeing him as a replacement for Josh King.
MacAnthony has his say on Toney’s future
Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony meanwhile has claimed that the club would only sell him if they fail to move to the Championship. The chairman on his youtube page said, ”We made it very clear we weren’t selling Ivan Toney. Ivan wasn’t happy with that; obviously, you’ve got clubs close to getting promoted to the Premier League, so I understand why he and his family were looking at that and going ‘that’s a super move’.
”We made it clear to Ivan that he’s our main guy, we’ve offered him a new contract and that if we don’t get promoted, we’ll sell him in the summer. There will be a host of clubs in the summer. So far in this window, there were seven, and there were another seven who wanted him but didn’t have the caps base on the FInancial Fair play but will do in the summer.”
What should Lennon do?
There is no doubt that Toney is likely going to be in demand in the summer, and Celtic seem to be one of the suitors for him. The 23-year-old came up from Northampton Town and moved to Newcastle United in 2015. However, he failed to establish himself there after numerous loan spells with lower division clubs. Toney joined the Posh in 2018, and he has been flying this season.
Peterborough are currently third in the League One, and they are emerging as one of the strong favourites to move to the Championship. Toney seems to have that pace and finishing skills which would trouble the defenders in the Premiership, but interest for him is likely to peak in the summer.
With Premier League clubs also joining in the mix, Lennon’s task would be cut out. Peterborough are maintaining that they would only sell Toney if they miss out on promotion but we think that even if the Posh get promoted to the Championship, they might find it hard to keep him. Celtic should keep track of the striker and make an approach in the summer if possible as Toney has the talent to thrive in the Scottish Premiership.
