Gary Lineker fears ‘the writing is on the wall’ for England star after first game of Premier League season
GARY LINEKER believes there is no chance Ivan Toney will stay at Brentford this summer.
The striker was left out of the Bees’ matchday squad for their opening game of the season against Crystal Palace.
Brentford fared well without the England star as goals from Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa helped them to a 2-1 win.
Thomas Frank spoke openly about Toney’s omission explaining he was left out as he has been the subject of transfer interest.
Toney has just a year remaining on his contract so Brentford are keen to cash in amid interest from a host of Premier League and Saudi clubs.
Micah Richards suggested Arsenal should try and sign the 28-year-old as he would add something different to Mikel Arteta‘s side.
That prompted Lineker to suggest there is likely no way back for Toney at Brentford.
He said on the Rest is Football podcast: “The fact that he was left out of the squad.
“I think once you get to a stage where they’re leaving a player like that completely out of the squad the writing seems on the wall.”
Toney is on the verge of a £40million exit with Saudi clubs happy to meet Brentford’s demands.
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Frank confirmed the club are looking to sell Toney as he praised the striker for his contribution over the last four years.
The Bees boss said: “There are a lot of things going on with Ivan, especially on transfers. There is some transfer interest. Because of all that we decided not to involve him in the squad.
“Ivan is a top player — we all know that.
“He’s been fantastic for us over the four years but we’ve also shown, especially last year, that we can deal without him.”
When quizzed whether Toney had played his last game for Brentford, Frank replied: “Who knows?
“There’s interest. It’s not close but we hope it will be.”
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