Former Newcastle United star Ivan Toney admits his Magpies exit helped him become an England international. The Brentford striker earned his maiden Three Lions call-up for the upcoming clashes with Italy and Germany following a fine start to the Premier League campaign.
Toney left the Magpies back in 2018 with Rafa Benitez opting to sell the forward to Peterborough after a series of loan spells. The 26-year-old subsequently flourished at The Posh before excelling at Brentford.
Now, Gareth Southgate may well take the Bees striker to Qatar World Cup in November and Toney has spoken of his Newcastle rejection and how it spurred him on in recent years.
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Asked about his Magpies exit, Toney said: “That was a factor that did come into play. I felt like ‘you got rid of me, I’m going to show you what I’m capable of when I get the chance, whether it’s a Premier League side – or a League One side’.
"Leaving Newcastle, when I went to Peterborough, was an eye-opener. That was a case of ‘right, I have to turn my game around to get back up, I might see myself as a Premier League player, but I’m a League One player now, I have got to keep fighting and working hard’. And I certainly did that.
“Honestly, I didn’t have that belief when I went out on loan, but, with my family behind me, I always made sure I had some sort of belief. You would be going on loan, but, really, you wanted to be playing for your parent club, Newcastle, in the Premier League.
"Being young and dumb, I’d say (that), and not realising what you go on loan for is to get experience in men’s football. You are sulking away, but, looking back, now you realise all the benefits of going on loan.
"So when I have been going on loan, with my parents behind me, making sure I am 100 per cent in training and matches, it’s helped me become the player I am today. But I feel, looking back, if I was a Newcastle manager looking at a 20-year-old Ivan Toney, would I have taken him? Probably not.
“There are no hard feelings, you just have got to get on with it. They have done what they had to do. They felt I wasn’t good enough, so it was up to me to pick myself up and go again.”
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