Ivan Toney started out at his hometown club Northampton Town, before being snapped up by Newcastle United in 2015.

He was never really given a chance on Tyneside, though, and spent time on loan at Barnsley, Shrewsbury Town, Scunthorpe United and Wigan Athletic in League One over the course of three seasons, before Peterborough signed him on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee.

"I personally took up a reference on character on Ivan from most of the managers he has worked with because I know enough about him as a player, and every one of them said they would want him part of their group, so that is a very positive sign,” said then-Posh boss Steve Evans when Toney signed.

As strikers tend to do at Peterborough, Toney thrived, with 49 goals and 15 assists across his two seasons at London Road. As the club were pipped to the play-offs by the narrowest of margins on both occasions, he was destined for bigger things, and signed a five-year deal at Brentford on 31 August 2020, replacing Aston Villa-bound Ollie Watkins.

Anyone who doubted he could fill Watkins’ boots was soon silenced. He scored 10 in his first 10 league games and ended the regular season by setting a new record for most goals scored in a Championship season with 31, as well as providing 10 assists.

He added another two in the play-offs, with the second a trademark penalty setting Brentford on their way to promotion after a 2-0 win over Swansea at Wembley.

He took to the Premier League like a duck to water with 35 goals and 11 assists in all competitions across Brentford’s first two campaigns there. He earned an England call-up in March 2023 and became only the third Brentford player in the club’s history to feature for the nation when he made his debut against Ukraine during Euro 2024 qualifying.

Toney’s 2022/23 campaign was cut short after he was handed an eight-month ban for breaching the FA’s betting regulations, meaning it was not until January 2024 that he was available for selection once again.

“I obviously missed being out on the pitch, but also being in the dressing room, the banter, being around the boys, everything. You can't replicate that environment,” he said in the Long Read. “When it’s taken from you, you miss it that much more.”

And Toney scored on his return to action, with a free-kick against Nottingham Forest, and impressed Gareth Southgate sufficiently - no doubt, in part, due to his penalty prowess - to be included in the England squad for Euro 2024.