England international Ivan Toney was not part of Brentford’s squad for their Premier League opener against Crystal Palace on Sunday due to uncertainty over his future.
The 28-year-old has just one year left on his contract with the London club and is expected to leave before the end of the transfer window this month.
A lucrative move to Saudi Arabia has been rumoured with most of the Premier League’s big guns unlikely to add a striker before the window closes.
“There’s a lot of things going on with Ivan, there’s some transfer interest. Because of all that, we decided not to involve him in the squad,” Brentford boss Thomas Frank told Sky Sports.
Toney shone in the 2022/23 season, scoring 20 Premier League goals for the Bees.
However, he missed the first half of last season due to a ban for breaching betting rules and struggled to make the same impact on his return.
Toney, though, was a key option off the bench for Gareth Southgate in England’s run to the Euro 2024 final.
“He’s been a fantastic player for us, but we showed last year especially that we can deal without him,” added Frank.
“There’s interest, but there’s nothing close (to completion).”
Palace captain Marc Guehi does start despite the Eagles rejecting a series of bids for the England defender from Newcastle.
