The “Northern Notebook” is i‘s weekly look inside the biggest football clubs in the north of England, providing insight, analysis and news on the burning issues of the day
Ivan Toney will not be joining the summer merry-go-round of top strikers in the Premier League, with Brentford determined to hold on to their highly-rated forward.
Toney has continued his meteoric rise through the leagues with 12 goals in his maiden top flight season, adding to 31 he scored in the Championship the year before. His performances have also illustrated a maturity that shows he is tailor-made for the Premier League and attracted interest from clubs.
Newcastle, West Ham and Arsenal are among the clubs linked with a move for Toney, who is on the fringe of the England squad. Strikers are set to be in high demand this summer following Erling Haaland’s move to Manchester City, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin tipped to potentially leave Everton and Manchester United joining West Ham and the Magpies in prioritising a forward.
But the belief in West London is that Toney, who has three years left on his contract, is a hugely valuable asset and has a career path that could see him in the England squad at Brentford. It would cost upward of £40million to replace him given his attributes and their intention is to keep together the group that have ensured a comfortable transition from Championship to Premier League.
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Recruitment officials around the Premier League believe this summer could see the transfer market return to previous heights and the early signs certainly point to that.
Aston Villa have moved to sign Marseille’s highly-rated Boubacar Kamara and are looking at Sevilla’s Diego Carlos as they prepare to make emphatic moves. Newcastle, Arsenal, Manchester United and the two newly-promoted clubs are also predicted to be active.
This week’s announcement of an injection of £150million of capital at Spurs adds to the feeling there will be significant movement in the market, with Antonio Conte set to be heavily backed in the transfer market too.
FSG make Liverpool investment
Among all the noise about this weekend’s Champions League final, there is also news from Liverpool that the club’s Director of Research Ian Graham’s biggest wish appears to have been fulfilled.
Graham is the man responsible for Liverpool’s pioneering use of data to analyse the transfer market, opponents and trends in football.
At the turn of the year he spoke about how he wanted to expand his team to incorporate a “full-time” analyst whose job was solely to focus on the Academy, applying the same methods they use for the senior team to that department.
And Fenway Sports Group have backed his judgement with the appointment of a full-time Academy Data Analyst.
In keeping with most of Liverpool’s appointments, a footballing background is a bonus but not required. Instead applicants have been told they must have a degree or Masters in physics, maths, science, technology of engineering.
It feels like a significant show of faith in the club’s approach, with should continue seamlessly when assistant sporting director Julian Ward fully takes over from departing sporting director Michael Edwards, who officially signs off after the game against Real Madrid.
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Steve McClaren appointment a ‘masterstroke’, say insiders
Steve McClaren’s return at Manchester United under Erik Ten Hag makes sense for a lot of reasons, not least his knowledge of the club and ability to guide the new manager in the nuances of Premier League dressing rooms.
His predecessor Ralf Rangnick had requested an assistant who had an extensive knowledge of the English game and put forward a suitable name – only to be rebuffed by the Manchester United hierarchy. His aloof manner, as well as moving training to later in the day, did not play well with the senior players in the Red Devils squad.
On one occasion – at half-time during his first Premier League game against Crystal Palace – Rangnick is understood to have told the players they could “ease off” if the demands of his pressing game were too much. For some, this was interpreted as a weakness.
McClaren’s presence will enable Ten Hag to avoid those mistakes and the pair already have a strong working relationship from their time together at FC Twente.
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At the moment the plan is to continue the show but McClaren senior is unlikely to talk about individuals or Manchester United business for fear of prompting some unwanted headlines.
McClaren explained that he was there to “support” Ten Hag, who has already issued detailed plans for most of the backroom staff.
“It’s really exciting,” he said. “Once you’re at Manchester United and work there, it’s in your blood and obviously the ups and downs we’ve followed through the years we’ve always had affection for Manchester United.”
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