Newcastle United sold 42-goal beast for £500,000 - now aiming for England World Cup success
Ivan Toney joined Newcastle United in 2015 as a youngster but was never given a chance to shine at St James' Park.
Former Newcastle United striker Ivan Toney is eyeing World Cup success with England after a stunning 42-goal season in Saudi Arabia.
Signed in 2015 as a prospect, the 30-year-old made just four appearances for the Magpies. Toney spent the bulk of his time at St James’ Park on loan at Barnsley, Shrewsbury Town, Wigan Athletic and Scunthorpe United before joining Peterborough United for just £500,000 in 2018.
He went on to rise through the divisions, becoming an established Premier League star at Brentford before heading to Al-Ahli. While a successful manager at Newcastle, one criticism of Benitez is his perceived mistreatment towards Toney.
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Ivan Toney reflects on journey
Speaking to ITV, Toney has reflected on his long road to the top as he bids to clinch World Cup glory with the Three Lions. He has previously opened up about needing to leave Newcastle to progress his career.
“I had to do that (go backwards to go forwards) many times,” Toney said. “Barnsley, Shrewsbury, Wigan, Scunthorpe, Peterborough, Northampton… everywhere. (It gave me) belief and hunger to get to the top.
“If you have this, it is inevitable that it will happen. You will always have a big chance of doing it, that goes for everything in life. If you believe something is going to happen, you speak something into existence. I’ve done that a lot of times, in loads of situations.
“Whenever I step onto the pitch, I have the belief that I can make something happen. That I’m going to score this goal, or I’m going to give this opportunity to someone. That’s always how I believe you should be thinking.”
Ivan Toney squashes Thomas Tuchel beef
Thomas Tuchel publicly admitted to being unimpressed by Toney’s commitment during his last camp in June 2025. Having cleared the air, the ex-Toon prospect is now relishing the prospect of playing a special role in the England setup.
“Your headspace has to be in the right place,” Toney added. “As the coach said, we cleared the air and I’m in a lot better headspace than I was. I’m a lot more confident, feel like I belong here and bring a lot to the team. When you’re feeling free, fit and scoring goals, that’s the best place to be in. I’m feeling confident going into this tournament.”
Rafa Benitez’s bizarre Ivan Toney claim
In 2021, as Everton manager, Benitez ridiculously claimed that he was unaware about Toney at Newcastle. He told reporters: "One of the things they (the media) have been talking about, but I didn’t meet Ivan Toney at any time (at Newcastle). I didn’t coach him any day, so I didn’t talk with him when I was there because he was on loan.
“All the reports that I had when I was asking for players for the first team, nobody was telling me that he was an option, and he was on loan and they sold him so I don’t have any contact with Ivan Toney and I didn’t have any contact with him.
“He’s doing really well, I cannot argue about that. But some people say ‘Oh Rafa didn’t use him’. I didn’t see the player, I didn’t talk with the player at any time because he was on loan for the time that I was there. I wasn’t aware of anything about him until he was doing really well in the Championship and he’s doing really well now in the Premier League.”
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