Ivan Toney vows to shoot Brentford into the Prem like Zlatan Ibrahimovic… then sing like Neil Diamond in dressing room

IVAN TONEY claims to have the confidence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the singing voice of Neil Diamond. And while no-one at Brentford has yet heard him belt out Sweet Caroline or Forever In Blue Jeans, they have certainly seen his self-assurance in front of goal. The striker – yet to do his initiation song which […]

IVAN TONEY claims to have the confidence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the singing voice of Neil Diamond.

And while no-one at Brentford has yet heard him belt out Sweet Caroline or Forever In Blue Jeans, they have certainly seen his self-assurance in front of goal.

The striker – yet to do his initiation song which he promises to be a Diamond classic – believes he has Ibrahimovic qualities that will help shoot him and the Bees into the Premier League.

Toney, 24, signed for £5m from Peterborough in the summer, was the man tasked with filling Ollie Watkins’ shoes after his £28m switch to Aston Villa.

And while Watkins thumped 28 goals last season, his replacement has already fired 10 goals in his first 11 games and has just won the SkyBet Championship player of the month award.

And he told SunSport: “I’ve always liked Zlatan. I just love his confidence.  Some people see it as arrogance but you must be like that to succeed. 

“I’m similar to Zlatan in both my confidence and the way I play. When he wants to do something, he just does it. I have some of that in my game and personality. And I believe I’ll be a Premier League striker.”

Brentford’s famous BMW frontline of Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Watkins plundered a staggering 61 goals between them last season but they lost in the play-off final against Fulham after blowing automatic promotion by losing their last two games of the season against Stoke and Barnsley.

Only Mbeumo remains with Benrahma on loan at West Ham – which means there is pressure on Toney to fill the void.

But Brentford have a great track record of continually refreshing themselves. After Neil Maupay moved to Brighton, Watkins stepped up to the plate – and now it is the turn of Toney.

And he said: “There’s always pressure but I don’t feel it. That’s why Brentford brought me in. They believed I could fill the shoes of all the strikers that had been in there before.

“Do I think I can get 25 goals? Yes. If you set targets, they must be sky high because if you finish just under it’s still going to be a good achievement.

“Brentford keep producing 25-goal strikers – so why can I not be the next one? I believe it, the manager believes it, my team-mates believe it – so why not go for it?

“When you’re a striker, confidence is key. The only person who can do it – and sometimes the only person who believes you can – is yourself. If you believe, anything is possible.”

Toney was a late bloomer in football and was spotted aged 13 by Leicester. But he was told he had something special when he played in front of his mum’s house at Eastfield Park in Northampton.

He said: “My cousin Nathan Hicks used to be on the books at Leicester and I played with him, my other cousins and friends, at the front of the house.

“They were all 18 to 20 and I was handling it well and they all thought I could play – and in the end Leicester scouted me and I was with them from 13 until they released me at 16.”

He joined home-town club Northampton – and made his first-team debut, aged still 16, against Bradford in the FA Cup in November 2012.

First he played under Aidy Boothroyd and then Chris Wilder. And it was under the current Sheffield United boss where he made his mark – scoring twice at Dagenham in a 3-0 win that helped to maintain the Cobblers’ EFL status.

Toney said: “Chris taught me about positional awareness so I could score more goals and had faith in starting me in that must-win game. I repaid him.”

Wolves pulled out of signing him in 2015 after putting him through a medical: “They cited I had scoliosis in the back but I think that was just an excuse – I’ve never had any issues with my back.”

But that just opened the door for Newcastle, who snapped him up instead. Toney spent three years at St James’ Park and made two cameo Premier League appearances off the bench against Chelsea and Manchester United as well as two others in the League Cup against Northampton and Sheffield Wednesday.

He said: “I moved to Newcastle as a young boy aged 18 and went straight into the Premier League. It was crazy.

“The players I was playing and training with I was more used to playing them in the FIFA game!

“But I took it in my stride and was grateful to be there because I learned so much.

“I felt the tempo was a lot faster to anything I’d ever been used to. I’d go onto the field and think I have time to take a touch – but you often don’t have the luxury at that level.

“It has helped me for the rest of my career and given me a great sniff of where I could be playing.” 

But most of his time at the club was spent on loan – two spells with Barnsley, two with Scunthorpe and stints with Wigan and Shrewsbury.

Toney found that tough and admitted: “It wasn’t the best situation for me because you’re on your own constantly moving around every six months. Also when a club keeps loaning you out, it makes you feel unwanted by your parent club.”

But it was at Peterborough where his career took off – scoring 23 goals in his first season and then last term was on 26 when the League One campaign was ended by the coronavirus in March.

And he said: “I found my feet there. The manager Darren Ferguson, when he came in, was great to me and said, ‘You can be as good as you want to be as long as you work hard for it.’ My game really kicked on under him.”

Peterborough and Brentford have similar models in the way they keep recruiting and selling up-and-coming talent – and that is why Toney signed for both clubs.

He said: “Peterborough have a good record with their strikers. If you don’t get promoted with them, they let you move on. 

“It’s exactly the same with Brentford but it’s not just that here though. I feel they’re a club able to play in the Premier League.

“Also I like manager Thomas Frank a lot. He’s someone who I want to work hard for. What I like about him is he literally will do anything to help anyone – not just players, but the staff and anyone around the club. He’s genuine and everything you want from a manager.”

 

Toney has not done his initiation song yet but has been told he will have to do it.

And he is promising to sing a Diamond classic and said: “With a deep voice like mine, I try to hit the high notes. I don’t mind singing.

“I’ll go for Neil Diamond because you have to know your dressing room. I get the feeling there are quite a few of his fans in there. I just hope they all join in so I’ll be let off lightly.”