Ivan Toney is not Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi – he hasn’t achieved enough to earn a big-money move abroad.
That is the view of Simon Jordan, who has had his say on the Brentford striker’s potential switch to Saudi Arabia.
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talkSPORT reported earlier this month how Al-Ahli were looking to secure the 28-year-old’s services to link him up with Roberto Firmino and Riyah Mahrez up top.
And we now understand that personal terms have been agreed, which would see the England international pocket £50million across three years.
As it stands, a fee is yet to be reached between Brentford and Al-Ahli, with the Bees still holding out for a fee close to £50m for Toney, who has been omitted from their opening two matchday squads.
Meanwhile Chelsea remain keen to sign the ex-Newcastle forward as Enzo Maresca targets a proven No9.
And former Crystal Palace owner and talkSPORT host Jordan wants to see Toney remain in England – despite the riches on offer for him in the Middle East.
Commenting on Toney‘s potential earnings on the White and Jordan show, he said: “If it’s £50m, if he’s there for three years, he’s probably going to get it tax-free if he stays there for the full three years.
“That becomes worth about £80m/£85m if you’re not paying tax on it. I think it’s sad.
“I think’s it’s sad for him that he’s got himself into a situation where he’s revered as one of the best forwards in competitive football.
“And now he’s going to play in an uncompetitive league.
“I understand that it’s easy for me to turn around and say, but there are certain things that are more valuable.
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“He’s still going to earn around £10m/£15m playing in English football if he were to be transferred somewhere else.
“I suspect the economics of the deal will benefit lots of people around him.”
Asked by co-host Jim White whether Toney would be silly to turn down a contract in excess of £310,000-a-week, Jordan stated: “It depends what you want from football.
“If you can get £200k-a-week from playing Premier League football and have a meaningful football career and play for your country, it depends what you value it at.
“If you don’t value it at that, and all you ever were in football for was for money, then off you go to Saudi and play in an uncompetitive league.
“I don’t care about the allure of Cristiano Ronaldo, he had a stellar career where he had won everything, done everything, played for everyone of any significance and was fully entitled to go off and get a pension.
“And the same with [Lionel] Messi [to MLS], not Ivan Toney, he hasn’t done very much.
“He’s put himself into an opportunity to be an England forward, money comes and goes – ‘it’s a short career’ – it can be a short career if you’re earning £10m-a-year, which he would have been earning if he had went to another Premier League football club.”
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