According to the chairman of League One outfit Peterborough United Darragh MacAnthony, West Ham United co-owner David Sullivan wishes he had signed Ivan Toney during the last summer transfer window.
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The 24-year-old joined Championship club Brentford on a five-year deal in the summer after ending his two seasons with Peterborough with 49 goals.
Toney has hit the ground running in the Championship, scoring 24 goals and assisting nine others this season.
While West Ham are not doing badly themselves and are currently fourth in the table after 25 Premier League games, having a finisher in the mould of the Brentford star in their squad would have definitely come in handy.
“Tell a quick story – David Sullivan rang Barry Fry today, he said ‘I wished I’d listen to you in the summer!’,” MacAnthony said on the Hard Truth Podcast.
“Because David Moyes did like Ivan Toney a lot. He said ‘that boy is probably going to go for £30 million plus in the summer’.
“But West Ham have done brilliantly so I don’t think they have any regrets at all.”
The Hammers parted ways with Ivory Coast international striker Sebastien Haller last month, selling him to Ajax after just 18 months at the club.
They were linked with a lot of strikers as they sought a replacement, but were only able to bring in attacking midfielder Jesse Lingard on loan from Manchester United.
West Ham will continue the rest of the campaign with Michail Antonio as their only natural striker, and it will be interesting to see whether that will be enough to fire them into Europe.
Manager David Moyes will look to sign a striker this summer, and he could return for Toney.
Should Brentford fail to secure Premier League promotion, they could be open to cashing in on the former Newcastle United striker, and it will be interesting to see how things go in the coming months.
In other news, West Ham are reportedly a plotting summer move for this Rangers star.
