Can Brentford Survive The Premier League Drop Without Star Man Ivan Toney?

Ivan Toney is set to be out until January after being found guilty of gambling charges, and after a top-10 finish last season, will Brentford be able to keep up these good results without their top scorer?

Two years after achieving promotion from the Championship Play-Offs in the 2020/21 season, Brentford achieved an impressive top-10 finish in the Premier League with a ninth-place finish, only three points away from Europa League qualification.

However, having been suspended for eight months after being found guilty of 262 gambling charges in May, their best man Ivan Toney is now out of the picture until January 2024.

With 20 of their 56 Premier League goals last season being scored by the striker, the question arises whether Brentford will be able to survive the start of another Premier League without their most valuable player.

Brentford seem to be in danger, their next top goal scorer was Bryan Mbeumo with only nine goals, less than half of Toney’s, and they can thank the English striker for their good results as Toney finished third top goal scorer in the Premier League, behind Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.

However, this isn’t the first time Brentford have been threatened with a drop-off in performances after losing their best players.

After the 2019/20 season Play-Off Final defeat to Fulham, they lost their top two goal scorers in Ollie Watkins who signed for Aston Villa and Said Benrahma who signed for West Ham.

This didn’t set them back from their target of promotion, however, which they achieved the next year after buying Ivan Toney.

Brentford have been busy during the break, strengthening the team with the signing of centre-back Nathan Collins and right-winger Kevin Schade as well as negotiating for Genk’s Mike Tresor and Nottingham’s Brennan Johnson.

With Collins signing for a club record fee of £23 million, Brentford are getting serious and hopeful fans are thinking that they might just cope without Toney.

If they do, Toney’s ban could even become a good thing for Brentford as they strengthen their team and show that they don’t need to rely on one player for results, giving players like Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa time to shine.

Brentford’s history has shown that they’re good at recovering from big losses, and with their first game at home against Tottenham Hotspur on August 13th, Brentford will be tested without their star man Ivan Toney, but with good preparations, they might just pull out a win.