Brentford have accepted a bid in the region of £40m for Ivan Toney from Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli.
Sources close to the England forward say they believe the deal will go through, and Toney will complete the transfer.
Toney, 28, has not played for Brentford so far this season and manager Thomas Frank has already ruled him out of Saturday’s game against Southampton.
The Bees turned down a £35m bid from Al-Ahli before the start of the season and Toney has also been linked with Chelsea in recent weeks.
Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has also been linked with a big money move to Al-Ahli.
The Saudi transfer window does not close until 2 September, so Toney’s transfer does not have to be completed by the Premier League deadline of 23:00 BST on Friday.
Toney would be one of the most high profile players to move to Saudi Arabia and would joins the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar in the country.
Fellow England international Jordan Henderson joined Al-Ettifaq from Liverpool in July 2023 but left for Dutch club Ajax after six months.
From Euro 2024 final to Saudi?
Toney was part of Gareth Southgate’s England squad at Euro 2024, although his three appearances – including in the defeat by Spain in the final – were all as a late substitute when England were chasing the game.
Toney scored a penalty in the shootout victory over Switzerland, when he found the net without looking at the ball as he stared down the keeper., external
He was left out of interim England manager Lee Carsley’s squad for September’s Nations League games on Thursday and has six caps and one goal for the national team.
Toney scored 20 goals in the 2022-23 Premier League season and netted four times in his first five matches last season after returning from an eight-month suspension for breaching FA betting rules.
He has scored 72 goals in 141 games for Brentford since joining from Peterborough in 2020 with 36 goals and 11 assists in 85 Premier League appearances.
Toney has also scored 30 of the 32 penalties he has taken in his career.
Toney’s timeline
- August 2020: Signs for Brentford from Peterborough United on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee.
- May 2021: Scores as Brentford beat Swansea 2-0 at Wembley to win promotion to the Premier League.
- March 2023: Makes England debut at the age of 27 in a 2-0 Euro 2024 qualifying win over Ukraine at Wembley.
- May 2023: Banned from football for eight months after breaking Football Association betting rules.
- January 2024: Scores on return from his ban in a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest.
- March 2024: Scores for England against Belgium in a 2-2 friendly draw.
- June 2024: Named in Gareth Southgate’s squad for Euro 2024 despite being limited to 16 Premier League starts in 2023-24 due to his betting ban.
- August 2024: Left out of Brentford squad due to transfer speculation and not named in England squad for September’s Nations League games.
Credit: BBC Sports
