Ivan Toney has revealed how he has been punishing himself during his time away from football and even admitted to falling out of love with the sport.  

The Brentford striker was suspended by the Football Association after admitting to 232 breaches of their gambling rules but will make his first-team comeback this month. 

The 27-year-old’s ban will end on January 16, meaning Toney will be available for Brentford’s next Premier League match against Nottingham Forest, set to take place on January 20.

He told The Mirror about how he would ‘punish’ himself during his time away from the sport and even admitted to falling out of love with the game before being integrated back into the senior set-up.

Ivan Toney has revealed how he has been punishing himself during his time away from football and even admitted to falling out of love with the sport 

Ivan Toney is set to return to competitive football on January 17 after his eight-month ban

Chelsea and Arsenal have both been linked with moves for the Brentford striker 

Speaking to The Mirror, Toney said: ‘I didn’t watch football. I didn’t watch football for a while. In a way I punished myself. There was a stage I probably did fall out of love with football. It is what it is, the situation is done.’ 

Toney is due to return to competitive football on January 17 following his eight-month suspension for betting offences. However, he’s been training with the first XI to build-up his fitness and playing with the club’s B team to get some minutes under his belt. 

The 27-year-old, who has scored 63 goals for Brentford in 111 appearances since joining in 2020, hit the headlines on Saturday after netting three goals for the club’s B team in their impressive 5-1 victory over Southampton‘s U23s. 

The star striker took just four minutes to find the back of the net after converting Kyreece Lisbie’s delivery at the near post and then notched his second from a free-kick.

Toney rounded off his hat-trick on 55 minutes after turning home a fine cross before going on to register an assist – teeing up Iwan Morgan to score Brentford’s fourth of the afternoon. 

Toney’s performance on Saturday garnered a lot of attention – especially from the Premier League club that are looking to sign him in the January transfer window. 

Arsenal and Chelsea have been heavily linked with a move for Toney. However, both clubs are reluctant to pay the ‘£100m price tag’ Brentford have attacked to the striker – according to reports. 

Mail Sport’s chief football writer Sami Mokbel recently stated that the Gunners could struggle to seal a deal considering the FFP constraints clubs around the Premier League are subject too.

Mikel Arteta said it is ‘unrealistic’ to think they would sign a new striker in the January window

He said: ‘Arsenal are very, very interested. But, it’s expensive in January. Particularly when you consider Arsenal spent close to £200m in the summer on Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and obviously they loaned David Raya which will turn into a permanent deal.

‘So, when you consider FFP [Financial Fair Play] and how much you can spend around those regulations, it will be a very difficult deal to do. It’s almost an impossible deal to do in January without outgoings.

‘Chris alluded to it, but having an out-and-out striker is a glaring void that they have in their armoury. Eddie Nketiah played against Fulham yesterday but I think they certainly need an upgrade.’

Additionally, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said it is ‘unrealistic’ to think they would sign a new striker in the January transfer window. Instead, he wants to focus on improving the players he has.  

Speaking about Arsenal’s need for a new striker, Arteta said: ‘At the moment it does not look realistic [that Arsenal will sign a striker in the January transfer window].’

He went on to add: ‘What my job is, and what we have to do is improve our players and try to get better results with the players we have.

‘One thing is what we need and another is what we can do. What we need to do now is stick behind those players, give them some love, train them and make sure they visualise something very different to what is actually happening now. They’ve done it. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel, because they’ve done it.’

Additionally, Thomas Frank made it clear Brentford would settle for nothing less than an exceptional offer for Toney. He said: ‘The very short answer is yes.

‘He is a Brentford player. He is here, we miss a few offensive players and I cannot see why we should sell him. I would love to have him here for a long time.

‘It is not for me to discuss (an offer), but if I could ever recommend one, it would need to be an unbelievable price, so he will stay here.’