Ivan Toney has been backed to leave Brentford for West Ham this summer by the chairman of the forward’s former club Peterborough United.
Toney has expressed a desire to leave Brentford and the Bees are expected to cash in on the England international, who has entered the final 12 months of his contract in West London.
The 28-year-old has scored 36 goals in 83 top-flight appearances for Brentford and that goal record has attracted interest from the Premier League’s top teams, including Arsenal and Chelsea.
However, Peterborough’s Darragh MacAnthony has backed West Ham to move for Toney and said the striker would be the Hammers’ ‘best signing in 12 years’.
Speaking on talkSPORT, MacAnthony said: “I think for me, the betting man [in me] would say, knowing what David Sullivan is like at West Ham, he’s always liked Ivan Toney.
“He’ll try and basically get him at a dropped-down bargain offer from Brentford.
“And I know the Brentford people and they’d be like ‘no chance’. But I know Sullivan will try, and if he had any common sense he would.
“It would be the best signing West Ham have made in 12 years, instead of a foreign striker for £70million who couldn’t hit a barn door.”
MacAnthony, who cleared up speculation surrounding Peterborough’s sell-on clause, said Manchester United had been keen before the arrival of Joshua Zirkzee, while Tottenham remain interested.
“They (Manchester United) would have loved to have signed him and should have signed him. And the outside tip, and don’t forget where I live because I live in America, is Tottenham.
“And I think, if they got Richarlison gone, and got hm in, they’d finally have a top three team to mirror his style and what he wants to do.
“Sky came out and said I was going to get 15 to 20 million [pounds for Toney], I was like ‘what are you doing?’
“Every club we’re going to try and buy off thinks we’re loaded. We’ll probably end up, after Newcastle get paid their bit and everyone else, probably three, four, five million.”
