The Athletic reporter Chris Waugh has revealed that former Newcastle strikers Ivan Toney and Adam Armstrong would command combined fees of around £50m were they to be sold in January.
The duo have been enjoying excellent campaigns in the Championship for their respective clubs, with Toney having 16 goals and three assists to his name in 20 appearances and Armstrong registering 15 goals and three assists in 19 matches. That has seen them pull away at the top of the division’s scoring charts, with both averaging 0.83 goals per game.
The Magpies sold Armstrong to Blackburn for just £1.75m, although it has been reported that Newcastle would receive a sizeable 20%-30% sell-on fee were he to be sold by the Championship club, per Mark Douglas. The 23-year-old has recently been linked with a potential move to West Ham, and Waugh has suggested he could fetch just under £20m if sold.
Meanwhile, Toney was allowed to leave Tyneside to move to League One Peterborough United after failing to force his way into the Newcastle first team. He has gone on to flourish, registering 24 league goals last term to convince Brentford to pay a fee which could rise to £10m. Waugh has revealed that the 24-year-old would now fetch at least twice that amount in the transfer market.
Suggestion from someone who works in EFL recruitment I spoke to last week was that he thought the best part of £50m collectively were they to be sold in January. Certainly Toney would be £20m-plus, Armstrong perhaps a little less.
— Chris Waugh (@ChrisDHWaugh) December 21, 2020
Read Newcastle verdict
At the time when both Armstrong and Toney were allowed to leave St James’ Park, there was justification for believing they would struggle to force their way into the first team. However, the pair were still talented and there may well now be regrets from some at Newcastle that they made the decision to allow both to leave for modest sums.
Toney is set to get the chance to show Newcastle exactly what his value is when Brentford take on the Magpies in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup this evening. Steve Bruce has already suggested that the Bees striker will be highly motivated to prove a few doubters wrong during the cup clash and, if he were to produce a match-winning performance, it would further compound the sense of regret on Tyneside.
Considering Newcastle are not blessed with players who would fetch such high fees in the transfer market, it could now be seen as a mistake to have allowed two valuable assets to slip through the net. Some might even be wondering why they did not see it fit to include buyback clauses when they were both originally allowed to leave.
