Peterborough rejects Red Bulls bid for Ivan Toney

It has been confirmed that New York Red Bulls were the “club that owned NY and German” reported to be bidding for Ivan Toney of Peterborough United.

Peterborough’s motor-mouthed sporting director Barry Fry confirmed to the Peterborough Telegraph on Saturday that a bid from New York came in but was well below their valuation of Toney, the leading scorer this past season in League One, England’s third division.

“New York Red Bulls have plenty of money, but they didn’t offer us anywhere near enough for Ivan. It was £4 million with several add-ons, but we will get bigger offers than that once our 2019-20 season comes to an end.”

While Fry is known for his bluster and savvy use of the media in transfer activity, based on his comments it appears unlikely that RBNY will remain in the competition for Toney. Some reports have had Peterborough valuing the 24-year old Toney, who has revived his stock with The Posh after an unsuccessful early career with Newcastle United, at as much as £15 million ($18.5 million). The roughly $6 million fee paid to CA Huracán for Kaku in 2018 remains Red Bulls’ highest ever transfer purchase, and with young incumbent forwards such as Brian White, Tom Barlow and Mathias Jørgensen on hand, the striker depth chart is not one of the team’s emergency positions.

This leaves Red Bulls sporting chief Kevin Thelwell with a .500 batting average on transfer bids for Toney, having signed the teen-aged Toney (then at Northampton Town) during his time as Wolverhampton Wanderers sporting director only for the move to fall through after a failed physical. However it appears he has tipped his hat as far as which area of the squad he is most interested in strengthening as he maneuvers through his first full transfer window from the offices in Harrison.

In the meantime, savor the last fleeting moments of Bazza as his cameo in the RBNY universe comes to a close: