IVAN TONEY could be handed a mid-season World Cup lifeline after Premier League interest in the striker emerges.
The former Brentford man continues to score goals in Saudi Arabia but is not currently the mix for his country under Thomas Tuchel with just over six months to go until USA 2026 despite scoring 11 times in 15 matches this season.
Toney, 29, may yet get the chance to prove himself back in England, though, after talkSPORT report that Thomas Frank is open to signing the striker again.
It was Frank who took Toney up from League One to the Championship in 2020 from Peterborough to Brentford and the pair hit it off.
Toney bagged 72 times in 141 games for the Dane including 36 from 83 in the Premier League.
Now, with Spurs struggling for goals and Toney keen to push his case again, the two could scratch each others backs.
It is claimed that with Richarlison being a long-term target for Al-Ahli, who Toney has scored 41 times for in 18 months and just 59 matches, movement could follow.
Tottenham signed Randal Kolo Muani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain over the summer but has failed to hit the ground running.
Dominic Solanke has again fallen foul to injury issues and Mathys Tel is prefered as a winger.
Toney, therefore, is viewed as someone to answer several questions for Frank.
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The 29-year-old’s club are not thought to be keen on selling up in January and Toney would need to push it himself.
With Toney’s England chances hanging by a thread, this appears to be his last opportunity of making the major tournament next summer.
Toney played a bit-part role at Euro 2024 under Gareth Southgate but missed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar following his betting charges from the FA.
His first call-up came two months earlier but Toney has only made seven appearances for England in the three years since, starting just once and scoring a single goal.
Tuchel’s latest Three Lions squad, released on Friday, included only one natural striker in Harry Kane, with Ollie Watkins left out.
Toney had returned to the group earlier this year when he was picked for matches against Senegal and Andorra, but he only got two minutes off the bench and has not been seen since.
At the time, Tuchel said: “Ivan deserves to be with us I think.
“I’m convinced because he scored over 20 goals for Al-Ahli this season.
“He’s won a major title with the Asian Champions League, a big involvement in the team with goals and assists and a huge contribution.
“I told you last time that I will try to put a visit in my schedule to see him in Saudi but I didn’t make it.
“So I thought: ‘why not bring him over and let him travel to us?’
“It is a good occasion now to test new players, meet news players, test Ivan in the environment.”
Tuchel added after the matches: “I think that Ivan is a specialist for exactly these situations.
“We created a lot of chances with [Morgan] Gibbs-White, with Ebs [Eberechi Eze], with Morgan Rogers, and with Jude in fluid positions.
“I think Ivan is strongest when we have a phase where we have a lot of balls in the box and that was the case, so after 80 minutes we got him ready.
“Then we scored and they took the goal away and it took a little while longer than we wanted but that’s what he can give – presence in the box and a goal later in the match.”
