Ivan Toney has insisted he holds no ill-feeling towards Newcastle United after he was sold by Rafa Benitez.
The Brentford striker has enjoyed a meteoric rise in the English Football League after moving from Peterborough to the Bees in the summer for an initial £5million fee.
Toney is now on target to become the highest-scoring Championship striker in a single season, having already scored 28 goals and registering nine assists this season, leaving some Newcastle supporters ruing the club's decision to allow him to leave in 2018 for a relative pittance.
With the 25-year-old now hoping to return to the Premier League with the Bees and top-flight clubs reportedly looking to sign him should Brentford stumble, Toney has explained his decision to leave Newcastle.
“Rafa came in, he had a decision to make and he made it, which was clear and fair enough. He didn’t see me in his plans," Toney told FourFourTwo.
“If somebody doesn’t want you, it isn’t the end of the world. It’s their choice. You might not fit in with their style of play, or it might be something little – you don’t know.
“But just because one manager doesn’t want you, it doesn’t mean another one won’t. You want to prove to yourself that you can do it, and I think that’s what I’ve done.”
“It was flattering, but I’m a Brentford player. You read things, but I don’t look too deeply into it," he added.
"I have to keep doing what I can to get Brentford promoted, and then I won’t have to worry about other clubs so-called buying me.
“I want to be the player that everyone talks about, but one step at a time. Hopefully, within two or three years, I’ll be an established Premier League player.”
This month’s FourFourTwo is in shops on Wednesday, April 7 and has a 10 page interview with Manchester United forward Bruno Fernandes. Also in this issue, The Football League Top 50, an interview with Leeds star Raphinha and former Spurs star Steven Caulker opens up. For a special Reach subscription offer of three issues of FourFourTwo for £3: www.magazinesdirect.com/fft/81av
