Different Breed

Heading into the 2022 Premier League season, Ivan Toney and Brentford did not have a lot of expectations. Toney netted 33 goals in the Championship last season and is the Bees' major contributor in trying to keep them in the Premier League.

The English forward has bounced around in many clubs in England since coming from the Newcastle academy. Toney's class and power in the final third are some of the best in the modern-day Premier League.

At the age of only 25 years old, Toney is nowhere near the prime of his career. The only way for Toney to go from here is up. His three goals against Norwich on Saturday night is his first hat-trick since January 30, 2021, against the Wycombe Wanderers in the Championship. This three-goal performance in the Premier League puts the rest of the league on notice and moves him into a tie for seventh in the league in goals with six other players including Ronaldo, and Wilfried Zaha.

After a clutch win on the road against Norwich, Brentford manager Thomas Frank stated, "He was not only for the three goals but in general he top-performed...You need in a game like this that your top players perform and he did that...First one a well-worked set-piece where he was in the position he had to be and then two penalties...The second one he gets himself and I have said many, many times the more penalties he scores, the closer we are to the truth that he is the best penalty-taker in the world with the coolness and the strategy."

Almost after every match, Thomas Frank praises Toney for his presence on the field, and pure skill that can be compared to very few players in English football. Brentford has had its struggles this season, but it is its first season in the top division of English football since the 1946-1947 season. Frank has hailed Toney as the "best penalty taker in the world" on many occasions, and he proved it once again, netting two over the weekend to lead the Bees to a 3-1 win at Carrow Road. Frank may be right, because Toney has only missed one penalty in his career, and that was all the way back when he played for Barnsley in 2018. 23 penalties have been taken, and 22 of them found the back of the net.

It was only a matter of time until Ivan Toney made it to the Premier League, and since he has gotten here, the man has done nothing but be the man to keep the Bees in the top-flight for their second straight season. His goal tally may not be consistent, but every time a manager has to plan for a match against Brentford, Ivan Toney is at the top of the list of their concerns. The combination of Toney's speed, skills, and relentlessness on the ball makes him one of the most dangerous players in the Premier League, and there is still room to get better.

Back in early January, Frank said that Toney needs to take some inspiration from a veteran like Harry Kane. Kane and Toney have somewhat different styles of play, but both utilize power and finesse in the final third to their advantage. His unique way of taking penalties works almost every time. It looks like he is just taking a walk in the park and just happens to find a football on his stroll. On top of penalties, Toney can hit world-class volleys and leap in the air, and win a header inside a congested 18-yard box.

While Brentford is getting close to securing a spot in the Premier League for the 2022-2023 season, Toney is slowly putting himself in the conversation for one of the most clinical finishers in the top-flight. Having never played top-flight football before, Toney has adjusted extremely well. It is becoming a regular occurrence in the Premier League that if you give Toney space in the box, you will have to deal with the consequences.

Consistency is key for Toney to be able to bring his game to the next level. There is no doubt that the quality and potential are there, and it isn't going to take much time for this English striker to win the Golden Boot one day in the top-flight. In the Championship, Toney did what Neal Maupay and Ollie Watkins could not do, bring the Bees into the Premiership. Toney also netted more goals than both of them when each of them led Brentford on the scoring charts in respective seasons.

Teams from all around England should be on the lookout for Toney. He may play for the Bees as of now, but his abilities qualify him for a much bigger club. Outside of the football world, Toney has been racially abused on the Internet more than once during his career and is one of the players leading the charge against racial discrimination.

Back in April after an incident on Facebook, Toney stated, "We have had a long discussion about that; why we are not taking a knee...Everyone has had their say, and everyone agrees [that] we have been taking the knee for however long now and still nothing has changed...We are kind of being used as puppets, in my eyes; take the knee and the people at the top can rest for a while now, which is pretty silly and pretty pointless. Nothing is changing."

Toney is leading the charge not only on the football pitch but outside in the real world as well. He has been one of the activists, preaching for a much-needed change in today's disheartening society. Whether it is in the Championship or the Premier League, Toney is still one of the top strikers, and his hat-trick over the weekend makes it almost impossible to ignore him now. While he may not be a household name around world football as of now, Toney has the potential to become one of the most feared forwards in modern-day football with all the attributes he possesses.

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