Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze react to Ivan Toney’s ‘over and out’ message
Ivan Toney’s form for Al-Ahli this season has resulted in a surprise call-up from Thomas Tuchel to return to the England setup.
Toney’s international career looked set to take a hit when he made a controversial £33.6million switch to the Saudi Pro League last September, as he swapped the Premier League’s intensity for a big money move.
The 28-year-old has been down the Three Lions’ pecking order since and wasn’t called up for any of the six matches under interim manager Lee Carsley, but Toney’s form in the Middle East has turned heads.
After 30 goals across 44 games for Al-Ahli in all competitions and finishing second only to Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League’s scoring charts, Toney has now returned to the England fold.
Toney takes England place after Thomas Tuchel faith
Thomas Tuchel‘s England squad for this month’s matches with Andorra and Senegal has raised some eyebrows, with Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite surprisingly left out despite his strong Premier League form.
The German has shown no hesitation to call up players from outside the Premier League whose England careers previously looked over, most notably Toney for the first time, Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker.
Toney’s form at Al-Ahli has earned him a place alongside Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins and ahead of Dominic Solanke, and the striker posted on Instagram (1 June) to acknowledge his Three Lions call-up.
In a post liked by England team-mates and current squad members Eberechi Eze and Declan Rice, Toney said: “24/25. Over and out – on to England duty”.
Premier League return on the cards for Toney?
Football Insider verdict
Toney was courted by several Premier League clubs last summer before he made the move to Saudi Arabia, as Man United missed the chance to sign him despite Brentford cutting his price tag by £20m.
Arsenal’s desperate need for a striker was further underlined by their failure to agree a deal for Toney in the final days of the summer transfer window, and that’s still an area they need to address 12 months on.
Compared to the likes of Crystal Palace’s Eze, talk of a possible move back to the Premier League for Toney has been quiet this summer, but his climb up the leagues has shown that anything is possible.