Ivan Toney would prefer to join to Celtic over Brentford

Celtic have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Peterborough United forward Ivan Toney as the player would, according to the Glasgow Times, prefer to move to Parkhead than move to Brentford.

Both The Hoops and The Bees have lodged bids for the 24-year-old but Celtic have had their offer rejected as it doesn’t mean Posh’s valuation.

However, if Celtic are able to agree a fee with the League One club, then it appears that the player himself will push for a move to Celtic Park rather than a switch to Brentford.

Even though The Bees could be playing Premier League football next season if they can win the Championship playoffs, Toney would reportedly prefer to move to Celtic for two reasons.

Firstly, the chance to play in European competition is apparently a huge draw for the striker and secondly, he’d also like to reunite with new Celtic first-team coach Gavin Strachan, who he previously worked with when he was the assistant manager at Peterborough.

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For a player to be willing to overlook potential Premier League football to join Celtic is a huge positive for The Hoops and just shows how big they are, despite some people having reservations about the standard of Scottish football.

Of course, the main sticking point in this deal will be around the transfer fee required as Posh are rightly trying to get as much money as possible for their star player.

Whether Celtic are willing to spend something close to a club-record fee in order to get Toney may seem unlikely but the fact that they are bidding for the player shows how keen they are to get him.