Archive June 4, 2025

Out of the mind, out of sight.

Many people were skeptical of Ivan Toney’s chances of being selected for England’s starting lineup after his summer move to Saudi Arabia.

However, Thomas Tuchel, the manager of the Three Lions, added the Al-Ahli striker to his squad for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Andorra and Tuesday’s friendly against Senegal.

Toney’s impressive scoring record in Saudi Arabia, which includes 30 in all of his games, was used to justify Tuchel’s choice.

The German coach said, “He deserves to be with us, and I’m persuaded that because he scored more than 20 goals this year for his team,”

He made a significant contribution with goals and assists in the Asian Champions League, which he won.

Toney insisted during a BBC Radio 5 Live interview that he never believed his English career was over.

No, regardless of the circumstance on or off the pitch, I never think negatively. Instead, I always think positively.

“I mean, you are still going to be in the manager’s mind, obviously, if you are scoring and playing well.”

In recent years, many famous footballers have relocated to Saudi Arabia.

Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time winner of the Ballon d’Or, is perhaps the most well-known of them all, but Neymar, N’Golo Kante, and Riyad Mahrez also made the moves, continuing to be chosen by their respective national teams.

In fact, Toney’s Al-Ahli team-mate Edouard Mendy could face off against him when England travel to Senegal the following week.

There are a lot of familiar names in the Saudi Pro League, but the overall standard of play is thought to be rather low.

The Saudi Pro League was just behind the Ecuador Liga Pro in Opta’s most recent Power Rankings, which placed it 29th overall.

The Saudi Pro League correspondent John McAuley, a Gulf-based sports journalist, told BBC Sport that “Toney has publicly stated that he has been very surprised by the standard of football there.”

“The influx of legitimate international players entering the league right now is what caused it to be significantly higher than he anticipated,” he said.

Al-Hilal are the record four-time winners of the Asian Champions League, which means that Saudi has always had a very high standing in the Asian league.

“He is still playing against local players, but when you think of the defenders Toney is up against, he is still playing against Aymeric Laporte at Al-Nassr, Kalidou Koulibaly at Al-Hilal, and Danilo Pereira, who moved from PSG to Al-Ittihad, so he is still playing against European standard players,” he said.

Regardless of how the league Toney is currently playing in, there is no denying that Toney entered this England camp as a top scorer after scoring twice in the second half of the campaign to help Al-Ahli win the Asia title.

In his final 19 league games, McAuley finished two goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo in the search for the Golden Boot, according to McAuley, who added: “He ended up with a run of roughly 19 goals.

The significant thing is that, for the first time, Al-Ahli won the Asian Champions League Elite, he played a significant role in Al-Ahli’s success. This was something that really connected him with the fans.

Toney explained to 5 live that the transition was “a big one” as the first person to move to Saudi.

“Obviously, people will be asking how he will cope and be,” he said. ‘. They speak for themselves, as you can see from the statistics.

Toney is 29 years old and has undoubtedly had a varied and interesting career to this point.

Before settling at Brentford, he started out at Northampton and moved up through the English football leagues, scoring in each of the four top divisions.

He reached his peak at the Bees, scoring 20 league goals in the 2022-23 campaign, to become one of the Premier League’s most enthralling properties.

Toney has, however, come a little late to the party. He won his first England cap at the age of 27 when he only became an established player in the Premier League four years ago. By that point, Wayne Rooney had 78 caps, compared to Harry Kane’s 46 at that time.

His professional life has also been filled with controversy; in May of that year, he was ordered to miss eight months of football for 232 football-related infractions.

He made his debut for Al-Ahli in August, joining for £40m, and playing in the England squad for Euro 2024 last summer.

Toney’s decision will undoubtedly depend heavily on the wages offered, with reports claiming that his four-year deal with the Saudi side would earn him £400, 000 per week after tax.

A significant increase over the Brentford, £50, 000 per week, he received.

A desire to significantly safeguard Toney’s financial future seems logical given that he was in his late 20s when he reached the top of the game.

The striker has, however, maintained that his desire for fresh experiences drove him.

In December, he told FourFourTwo that he wanted something slightly different.

I can fit in anywhere because it’s a different culture. I’ve spent time in Brentford and Peterborough before leaving the United Kingdom.

Since he had not had the chance to see Toney play in Saudi Arabia, Tuchel was keen to emphasize that the call-up for England was more about him getting a close-up look at the player.

The former Chelsea manager has emphasized the value of a player’s personality, how they are training, and how they are treating themselves to victories, talking about Toney’s Asian Champions League success.

He does, however, give Tuchel a viable attacking option.

“Of course, I’ve been in the plans before, and I just need to stick with it, keep scoring goals, and keep playing well,” Toney said.

“I have a lot of great players and great strikers in the mix, but I have to concentrate on myself, and I hope to be able to join them now and win the World Cup.”

If Kane is injured, Toney would be the best choice. According to senior football correspondent Alex Howell from BBC Sport, “He is the most similar in terms of profile.”

Ollie Watkins’ playing changes the way England plays, according to Toney, “because wingers are looking for him, the number 10s want to connect with the striker, but Watkins is always looking the other way.”

Another factor Tuchel might have taken into account is how Saudi Arabia’s heat and humidity will help Toney become familiar with the conditions that are anticipated in North America by the time the 2026 World Cup is over.

According to McAuley, “Jeddah is boiling at the beginning and end of the season, and it has the humidity as well,” which will undoubtedly help him for the following year.

Champions League football, the opportunity to play alongside Cole Palmer, the Premier League’s youngest squad. Three of these factors contributed to Chelsea’s successful signing of Liam Delap.

Following Ipswich’s relegation from the Premier League, a £30m release clause was activated, which attracted strong interest from Manchester United, Everton, Nottingham Forest, and Newcastle.

After selling Delap for £20 million last summer, Manchester City decided against using it. However, they did so in a buy-back option.

Ipswich gave Delap permission to speak with a number of interested clubs earlier this month.

Manchester United and Chelsea were the obvious choice over the past week, but the Blues’ triumph over Nottingham Forest in the final game proved to be the decisive factor.

The 22-year-old was spotted at Stansted Airport that evening before a medical, and was informed of his decision a week prior to the release of the information to the parties involved.

Instead of competing for England in the European Under-21 Championship, he is likely to join his new club for the inaugural summer Club World Cup.

Delap has been Chelsea’s top target all season, and it is thought that co-owner Behdad Eghbali met with the player’s principal agent in Dubai. Before the Conference League final, Embahi even expressed his admiration for the player to Chelsea fans in Wroclaw.

Delap thinks Chelsea’s play style will work well for him and that they will fit the bill. Numerous former City Academy graduates who will work at Stamford Bridge, including Jadon Sancho, Romeo Lavia, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Palmer, urged him to make the move.

Delap and Maresca both shared a top development squad with City, while Chelsea’s top recruiter, Joe Shields, is also known to have a close relationship with the player and his family, and academy director Glenn van der Kraan is one of the two Premier League players with whom Maresca also has a strong relationship.

After being interviewed for the position of manager last summer, Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna also maintains good relations with the Chelsea hierarchy.

And he hopes that will lead to Marc Guiu’s potential move, who wants to take Delap on loan.

Manchester United can take a positive out of a negative in these circumstances, as they always do.

They believed that their pursuit of Delap was heading in the wrong direction, and it was Chelsea’s fault. They are now aware that they have failed.

The positive is that they can move on once the decision is made. That contrasts starkly with 2022, when Erik ten Hag made a month-long delay in a fruitless move to sign Frenkie de Jong and United panicked at the end of the transfer window and spent £150 million on Casemiro and Antony.

But that does not address the important issue: Who is it now?

Delap exemplified their ideal model of a developing, eager young player with scope to excel at a high standard, for a fixed fee.

Apart from the first one, Rasmus Hojlund, who is four days younger than Delap, also met the same requirements. Additionally, it hasn’t worked.

Nothing about United’s post-season trip to Asia has inspired me to believe they have the solution to their club’s goalscoring issues. It is quite the opposite, to put it simply.

Bryan Mbeumo of Brentford and Jean-Philippe Mateta of Crystal Palace are the “safe” but expensive choices. However, Mbeumo and Mateta are both 27 years old and will travel to Cameroon for a month to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Then there is a risk.

At the age of 34, Danny Welbeck, a former United striker, scored 10 goals in the Premier League. Is it worthwhile to reinstate Hojlund and relieve some of the pressure off him, or has Ruben Amorim come to the conclusion that the 22-year-old Danish international will never be good enough?

Delap also attracted interest from Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, and Everton.

Although it is believed that Everton and Moyes’ pitch had a positive impact on Delap, the club always accepted that they were underdogs.

Moyes remarked before the final game of the season against Ipswich at Goodison Park: “We would certainly be interested if he was interested in us.

Despite receiving a hostile reception following encounters with Jake O’Brien and Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton fans made their best effort to persuade Delap to play at the new Hill Dickinson Stadium following the game.

As he visited 37 Goodison Road, a home across the street from the stadium with a wall full of footballers’ signatures, supporters urged him to relocate to Merseyside.

Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap has been signed for £30 million by Chelsea.

Following the Blues’ meeting with a release clause in their Ipswich deal, the 22-year-old has accepted a six-year contract at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea will pay up to £20 million upfront, according to sources, and the Tractor Boys have entered into a sell-on agreement as part of the deal.

Delap praised the stature of the club and the direction the head coach and these players are taking.

“I hope to achieve amazing things here and help the club win more trophies,” I said. “It’s going to be an incredible place for me to develop.”

Last year, Delap made 37 top-flight appearances, scoring 12 goals.

Before joining Ipswich in 2024 for about £20 million, the Englishman left Manchester City’s academy and went on loan at Stoke, Preston, and Hull.

Delap claimed he would never forget Portman Road’s experience.

After only making two Premier League appearances with Manchester City, he added that Kieran McKenna’s backing and the fans made Ipswich “the ideal environment” for him to gain experience.

He attended Derby County’s academy before moving to City’s academy as a teenager, son of former Republic of Ireland international Rory Delap.

Before being loaned out to Town and making a permanent move to Town, he made six first-team starts for City, scoring once in the League Cup.

Delap has a chance to improve his solitary appearance in 2022 by winning the Uefa Conference League, which Chelsea won this year.

Delap is expected to miss the European Under-21 Championships in Slovenia later this month, but he will likely be a part of England’s training squad.

Chelsea plays host to the Fifa Club World Cup in the United States from June 14 through July 13, and this extended competition is superior to the U21 Euros.

Cole Palmer, the Blues’ top scorer, scored 15 goals as the Blues struggled for goals in the competition from a renowned centre-forward.

Before the Club World Cup this month, Chelsea want to add depth to their squad.

On June 16, the Blues play Los Angeles FC in their first match of the season.

Although AC Milan and the French club are still in contact over their goalkeeper Mike Maignan, 29, their opinions on the player are far apart when it comes to his final year on his contract with the Serie A side.