£5m bid rejected, now worth £31.5m: Celtic had a giant howler on 190 G/A "lion" - opinion

Celtic have not been shy when it comes to heading south of the border and signing players from the top four English leagues.

In the previous year or so, the Hoops have secured deals for the likes of Joe Hart, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide.

Taking a look further back, one player who the Bhoys didn’t succeed in signing from an English club, which will now surely be regretting, is Brentford’s Ivan Toney.

According to the Daily Record, the Parkhead club had a £5m bid rejected for the striker by Peterborough United in the summer of 2020 before he eventually went on to sign for the Bees.

At the end of August 2020, Brentford were able to secure the striker’s signature for an initial fee of £5m in a deal which was reportedly set to rise up to £10m.

During his debut season in west London, the 26-year-old scored 33 goals in 48 Championship appearances as the Bees eventually made it into the Premier League.

This season has seen the Englishman find the net 12 times in 32 English top-flight matches, highlighting just how capable he is of being a regular goalscorer.

To further highlight the trajectory Toney has been on since his Peterborough days, in April 2020 Transfermarkt had his market value listed at £360k, whereas it now stands at a massive £31.5m.

With 356 senior club appearances under his belt, the striker has contributed 190 goal contributions in total, with 139 goals scored and 51 assists provided.

Described as having the “mindset of a lion” by his current manager Thomas Frank, Toney has undeniably proven on the pitch what a fantastic addition he could have been to Celtic’s ranks.

Taking all this into account, it’s safe to say that the Hoops will have been kicking themselves over not signing him when