Nuno Espirito Santo was not a fan of what Ivan Toney did against Nottingham Forest for Brentford.placeholder image
Nuno Espirito Santo was not a fan of what Ivan Toney did against Nottingham Forest for Brentford. | Getty Images
Nuno Espirito Santo is in need of extra goalpower and could end up working with a talisman who once angered the West Ham manager.
The Hammers’ woes up front are not a new problem for the club with winger Jarrod Bowen shouldering the burden left by the lack of a prolific striker in recent seasons. West Ham forked out £27 million to sign Niclas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund last summer to try and solve the issue, but that has not worked so far with the German injury riddled.
Evan Ferguson’s short-term loan last term was a goalless flop and, already, Nuno Espirito Santo seems to have decided that he is not interested in this summer’s free transfer arrival Callum Wilson. The new West Ham manager has opted for the inexperienced Callum Marshall from the bench over the ex Newcastle United man.
West Ham ‘working on’ Ivan Toney deal
West Ham are already counting down the days to the January transfer window and recruiting a striker will no doubt be a priority. The winter market is notoriously hard, especially for clubs with an obvious gap to plug, but the London outfit could be helped by a familiar face pushing for a move to the London Stadium.
The 29-year-old, who has 36 Premier League goals to his name, left Brentford for Al-Ahli in 2024 and has gone on to bag 39 goals for the Saudi side. Tuchel has left Toney out of his squad for the September and October internationals and the striker could view a loan return to the top flight as the perfect way to prove his worth.
Nuno Espirito Santo has history with Toney
Now, transfer specialist Alan Nixon has reported that West Ham are in fact already ‘working on the deal’ via Patreon, as relayed by Hammers News. Nuno will no doubt welcome the arrival of an experienced Premier League striker, but will have to put his past gripes with Toney behind him.
In January 2024, Toney famously came under criticism for cheating when moving the ball for a free kick unnoticed by the referee. That came in a match against Nuno’s Nottingham Forest, in which Toney scored from that free-kick and helped Brentford to a 3-2 win.
The striker claimed that players are allowed to move the ball a yard either way after the match, but a seething Nuno did not agree. Speaking after full time, he said: “That’s a new one on me.
"The situation is clear, there is a ball displacement. I think everybody saw it. But it's our responsibility to be a little bit more mature, not to allow the kick to go and then do the wall properly."
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