'Absolutely' - Eddie Howe agrees as Newcastle United benefit from £40m PIF transfer

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Eddie Howe has praised Brentford for the way they have adapted to life without Ivan Toney.

The 28-year-old joined Al Ahli - one of four Saudi Pro League clubs controlled by Newcastle United’s Public Investment Fund owners - in the summer for £40million. The Magpies are understood to have pocketed a nominal sum from the transfer after negotiating a sell-on agreement when offloading the striker permanently to Peterborough United in 2018.

Two years later, Toney earned a switch to Brentford and his first campaign helped the club win promotion to the Premier League. During his four years in West London, Toney scored 72 goals in 141 appearances and represented England at Euro 2024.

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Ivan Toney of Al Ahli (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)Ivan Toney of Al Ahli (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)
Ivan Toney of Al Ahli (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

Given his significance, many had wondered how Thomas Frank’s side would cope without him but they’ve had no such issues so far. In fact, Brentford are the fourth highest scorers in the Premier League this campaign and currently hold the best home record with six wins, one draw and zero defeat.

Howe agrees that Toney’s exit is an example of teams improving, despite losing their best player. Newcastle visit the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday.

“Yeah absolutely because the game never stops and you can't get fixated with believing one player make the season, it's never that clear-cut,” said Howe. “Sometimes to evolve the team you have to lose a player and then you can bring a different dynamic to the side.

“Brentford have done that really well, their recruitment has always been really strong and that has continued to be the case. They're a different team without Ivan [Toney] in it but they're still a very effective team when you look at the goals they're scoring and they've got a lot of pace in the front areas and a lot for us to try and control.”

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Selling a big-name player isn’t out of the question for Newcastle with their ability to bolster the squad heavily impacted by Premier League Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

"What I will say is that trading is essential both in and out - to the model of PSR,” Howe said on Friday. “The days where teams don't sell players are, unless your revenue streams are so big, are gone. So I think our revenue streams aren't where we want them to be and we are still trying to grow them so I think trading in and out is going to be essential.

“Hopefully, it is not going to be players that we are forced to sell like we were in that situation (June with Elliot Anderson and Yankuna Minteh) with a couple of days with deadlines approaching. Hopefully it is a more stable setting but you can't guarantee anything."

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