Ivan Toney says he never feared Saudi Arabia move would end his England career
The 29-year-old has been recalled for the first time since making a money-spinning switch from Brentford to Al-Ahli, shortly after helping Gareth Southgate's side reach the Euro 2024 final.
Toney was overlooked by interim boss Lee Carsley in the autumn and left out of Thomas Tuchel's first selection in charge but the England boss stressed in March that it was nothing to do with him playing in the Saudi Pro League.
The striker appreciated the German coach calling him with that explanation and is even more grateful after recalling him for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Andorra and the home friendly against Senegal next week.
'It's always tough missing out on a squad, but I think that's part of the game,' Toney said.
'You have to be strong, you have to stick at it and keep doing what you do best and I managed to do that and I managed to get the recall, which was a nice feeling.'
Asked if he thought moving to the Saudi Pro League may affect his England chances, he said at their training camp in Girona: 'No.
'You see with me I think if you're just doing the right thing, playing football, playing well and scoring goals – a striker's job, that's what you're in a team to do – it doesn't matter where you play in the world, I feel like you should still get the chance.
Ivan Toney helped England to the final of Euro 2024 (Nick Potts/PA)
'I think it's been proven me being me being back here and being back amongst the boys.
'It feels good to see the faces again and it feels good to get stuck in.'
Toney admitted the first month following August's switch was 'tough' but credits the string of loans during the early part of his career for aiding his adaptation to new surroundings in the Middle East.
The striker went onto score 23 goals in 30 Saudi Pro League appearances for Al-Ahli, helping the side to win the AFC Champions League Elite competition.
'I feel like I'm in good form,' Toney said. 'As you see, I'm here, I'm still scoring goals.
'I have a lot to give. All the time I want to improve, become a better player and try and help others around me.
'So, hopefully I can keep doing that and be in the mix for the World Cup.'
Toney is bidding to be among a number of Saudi-based players starring at next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Bruno Fernandes has rejected a move to the Saudi Pro League (Martin Rickett/PA)
There is a push for more stars to head there – with Al-Hilal falling short in their bid to coax Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes – and the striker believes the competition is far better than some suggest.
'Everyone always has their opinion,' Toney said. 'They're going to have their opinion on everything.
'You have to witness it and be there to realise what it's like. You can't have an opinion on something you've never seen.
'People always just assume certain things about things without seeing it, so I suggest people have a look before they start making judgements.
'It's tough, it's not easy. There's some good footballers and it's going in the right direction and I'm sure it will continue to do that over the years.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
44 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Neil Lennon challenges Rangers, Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen to raise standards after 'drop off' in quality
Lennon reckons the football - outwith his old club Celtic - is not as exciting as it used to be and hopes to see an improvement in the coming season Neil Lennon says it's time the chasing pack in the Scottish Premiership raised their game. The Dunfermline boss reckons there's been a marked drop in quality outwith Celtic in recent seasons - and the football isn't as exciting as it once was. Rangers and Hearts have been boosted with fresh investment and new management ahead of the new campaign as they look to mount a challenge for silverware. Scottish Cup winners Aberdeen can also look forward to another Euro windfall after clinching guaranteed group stage football while Hibs have welcomed the input of Bill Foley's Black Knights for the past year. Now Lennon, whose Pars side have also benefited from a cash injection from new owners, hopes the positive vibes in boardrooms at our top clubs can be reflected on the park too. Russell Martin and Derek McInnes are set to bring in new eras at Rangers and Hearts and Lennon reckons the challenge is there for them and others to lift their levels. Asked if the fresh investment in the game is exciting, he said: 'I hope so. I've not been overly impressed with the levels in the last couple of years. 'So I'm hoping there's going to be an improvement in the consistency of performance and quality from the teams. 'Not just domestically, but in Europe as well. I think there's been a drop-off. I don't know if it's over-coaching or over-analysis. It's not just in Scottish football. 'It's just a view I have of the game overall. I don't think it's as good as it was maybe a decade ago. Not as exciting or teams aren't as consistent as they used to be. 'I'll give an example. My first year back in the Premiership at Hibs we got 67 points and finished fourth. I don't know what fourth place got you this year, 53. 'Take Celtic out the equation and for the rest of the teams, the big clubs, I'm thinking there has to be more consistency there to give the other teams a bloody nose. 'Is outside investment what's been needed? I don't know. We've had outside investment before.' Analytics is the buzzword across Scottish football these days with Hearts benefiting from Brighton owner Tony Bloom's Jamestown tool and Hibs well down the road using Foley's Black Knights model. It's coming into play at Dunfermline too under new owners James Bord and Evan Sofer. Bord is a former poker champion who founded the sports data company Short Circuit Science. The US-based businessman even spent time working for Hearts' new investor Bloom earlier in his career. Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen, Connor Young and Tashan Oakley-Boothe have already been signed with the help of analytics. And Lennon admits it's about who does data best. He said: 'Yeah, probably. Brighton are the classic example, Brentford as well. The improvement in those two clubs has been fantastic and their recruitment is fantastic. 'It's all about that, it is 80 percent of my job, that will help me bring success to the football club. It's not set in stone, if I like a player and say I think we should go for him then he (Bord) would have no qualms about doing that. 'But he does bring a different variation on how you recruit a player, what to look at. You need the evidence and already with Mullen, with Young and with Oakley-Boothe we are seeing evidence that can be successful. 'Management is a really different now. A lot of clubs have a structure where if the appointment of a head coach doesn't work out they take him out and put someone else in but the structure remains. 'That was not the case when I started managing 15 years ago. A lot of clubs have that template. We don't as yet but I think it is something James wants to bring to the club.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Thomas Tuchel is right to ignore tedious talk of burn-out by calling up Chelsea stars for latest England squad, writes DANNY MURPHY
Five Chelsea players are in Thomas Tuchel 's England squad, squeezing in games against Andorra and Senegal between winning a European final and competing at the Club World Cup. They will resume the Premier League in mid-August and go again for 11 months, culminating in the real World Cup. Given the schedule, it's been suggested Tuchel should have allowed Reece James, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Noni Madueke and Trevor Chalobah to spend time with their families rather than calling them up. I'm firmly on the England manager's side. His responsibility is to win the World Cup, not protect clubs about to play in an additional tournament in America for greed. Physically, England's double-header won't demand a lot of intensity from the players and it's a rare chance to spend a full week together in the Spanish sunshine and benefit the squad in terms of camaraderie. Having the Chelsea boys involved is a help, not a hindrance, to our chances of glory next year. They will get a chance to disengage mentally after the Club World Cup and I think the other arguments regarding player welfare and too many games are overblown. I find the argument about player burn-out a bit tedious, and I speak as someone who experienced the demands of competing at a high level. With the size and strength of squads these days, very few players are used in every minute of every match. Palmer, for example, sat out Chelsea's group fixtures in Europe and the Conference League final was only his 48th game of the season for club and country — not excessive or likely to cause fatigue. There has never been a better time to be a footballer. With the facilities and sport science available to them, no stone is left unturned when looking after them physically and mentally. Tuchel doesn't have any obligation to alter his plans to accommodate the Club World Cup, a contrived competition which is more exciting to those clubs raking in prize-money than the players themselves. For Palmer and the other Chelsea lads, having spent a week in Barcelona, going to the Spanish Grand Prix and enjoying a barbecue before a game against Andorra won't be draining or detrimental to next season. If any of them do start to feel sorry for themselves, they should look at Mo Salah and Lionel Messi as two examples of top professionals who are always available and able to maintain exceptional standards. And if Chelsea are concerned about some of their players next season, they can give them time off at the start of the Premier League, as Pep Guardiola has done for Manchester City. What would have been unfair is Tuchel making concessions and not picking his strongest squad. The manager has very limited time with his players and this has been an important week for Team England, off the pitch as much as on it as manager and team-mates get to know each other properly. He has shown a single-mindedness I think augurs well for the World Cup.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
My padel date with Thomas Frank convinced me he's perfect for Tottenham, writes OLIVER HOLT
Some are already saying that, whoever the new Tottenham manager is, the first thing he will receive when he pitches up at the club's state-of-the-art training ground is a hospital pass. Social media has been abuzz with emotional testimonies from Spurs players about how much Ange Postecoglou meant to them. Good luck to the new guy, trying to win over a bunch of disaffected, disillusioned, mourning millionaires. That, actually, is one of the many arguments for making Thomas Frank the next Spurs boss. Frank is probably the best man-manager in the Premier League and the most emotionally intelligent. If he walked into the club and found players still simmering with loyalty to his fallen predecessor, Frank would have no problem accommodating those feelings. He is secure enough in himself and his abilities to acknowledge the debt he owes to others. It might be just what Spurs need. Because what they need, most of all, is not to allow the oceans of positivity they gained from winning the Europa League to ebb away in a sour feeling of loss over the firing of Postecoglou. They need to take that positivity and harness it. 'We stand on the shoulders of others,' Frank said when I spoke to him at Brentford 's training ground last month, 'and we build on foundations they have built for us. We need to acknowledge that every single time. 'It's all about the ego. So how fragile is it or how big is it? Some people need reassurance all the time and to say, 'The reason I'm so good is because of me and has nothing to do with these top players and good staff'. It depends who you are. 'So you need to believe in your own skill set, but be humble enough to know there's a lot of hard work and you're not the only one and all that. So I'm confident in myself and what I'm capable of doing. Also humble enough to know I can do nothing alone. No one can.' Frank and I played a couple of sets of padel at Brentford's Osterley facility. Me and my pal John against him and assistant first-team coach Kevin O'Connor. I would not say it was a pleasure losing 6-0, 6-0 to them but it was an education. It was a reminder that, for all they are often patronised, Brentford are no longer a small club. Spurs would be a step up but it would not be a leap. It was a reminder, too, that Frank has a talent for building a successful culture and improving it one step after another. He is a clever, innovative coach who led Brentford to 10th in the Premier League with the second-lowest wage bill in the top flight. But he also has highly rated coaches like O'Connor around him and created an environment where his players, signed for their character as well as their ability, feel valued and generally achieve far in excess of what is expected of them. Frank's Brentford sides operate on a high-pressing, high-energy model but when they attack, they do so with verve, speed and fluidity. Frank was especially proud that three of his players scored more than 10 league goals last season. Maybe there is a perception he is too nice. I don't share that, and not just because I was one half of a geriatric pairing taken apart on a court by somebody so competitive he would have seen losing a single game as a defeat. 'Look, if you ask whether I'm tough,' Frank (left) said that day, 'I think I'm extremely resilient. And I think we've all got a dark side. I've got five per cent dark side in me. Even my wife says that. You need that dark side, to have an edge and I have an edge. I'm extremely competitive, very determined, and you don't survive in this business if you're not tough.' It is surprising Frank has not been recruited to coach at a Champions League level already. Spurs have work to do to repair the damage done by Postecoglou's departure. Frank deserves the chance to be the man to do it.
