The reason behind the decision to exclude Ivan Toney from Brentford's first Premier League match of the season has been revealed.
Following an impressive 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank in his post-match interview spoke on the reason behind the decision to exclude the team captain and top striker Ivan Toney from the side that played their first Premier League match of the 2024/2025 club football season.
Thomas Frank confirmed that Toney’s missing their game against Crystal Palace was due to transfer reasons. The striker who currently has only one year left on his contract and has been linked with a move away from Brentford, with Al Ahli reportedly leading the race for his signature.
He stated, "Ivan is a top player. He’s been one of our best players if not our best player for a long spell. Like with any good players one day they will leave the club. There are various things going on with Ivan with transfer rumours and activity and because of all that we decided not to include him in the squad. I think every single time Ivan hasn’t played Wissa has stepped up and I think he did again today. Bryan started last season fantastic and is now up to speed again. Very nice.”
It remains to be seen whether that situation changes in the final weeks of the transfer window, especially if Al Ahli are able to reach a broad agreement with Brentford over the value of a player who has a good scoring record in the top flight.
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Toney’s time in west London has also been a controversial one with his eight-month ban for breaking Football Association betting regulations seeing him miss much of last season as the club endured a difficult campaign that saw them only just avoid a battle with relegation with a 16th-place finish.
Brentford impressed without Toney against Palace, with fellow forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa both finding the net.
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