Marcus Bent has exclusively told This is Futbol that Leicester would be an excellent move for Ivan Toney but has warned the Brentford striker to pick the right club should he leave this summer.
Toney is currently trying to get the Bees promoted to the Premier League for the very first time, but is a man in demand, with countless top-flight sides keen on signing the 32-goal frontman, who Thomas Frank compared to Harry Kane earlier this season.
Do Leicester need to sign a striker this summer?
Yes
No
Regardless of whether Brentford end up winning the play-offs, Toney appears more than likely to be playing in the Premier League in some capacity next season.
One of those sides is Leicester, who’re looking to bolster their striking options, with Jamie Vardy turning 35 in January, whilst Ayoze Perez isn’t scoring the goals that the Foxes would have hoped he would following his switch from Newcastle the summer before last.
Toney’s 31 goals saw him break Glenn Murray’s Championship record, although his outstanding individual campaign wasn’t enough to see Brentford promoted automatically.
£30m is the fee being touted to sign Toney, and Bent, who started his career in the Championship before signing for Ipswich in the Premier League, doesn’t think Brentford would say no to an offer in that region.
He told This is Futbol:
“They couldn’t turn down that money for him, and he would probably want to leave to go to a bigger club. Leicester would be a good move for him.
“But you can look at certain players in the past going from the Championship to the Premier League – like Zaha to Manchester United. He wasn’t quite ready; it didn’t work out for him. You’ve got to watch where you go, although the money, the lights and titles will scream at you, but you must be honest and ask yourself ‘is that the right move for me’?”