CELTIC have been told they will have to DOUBLE their initial £5million bid if they hope to sign Peterborough striker Ivan Toney.
It is understood the 24-goal hitman, top scorer in English League One last season, is keen to reunite with former assistant boss Gavin Strachan at the champions, as CQN reported yesterday.
However, the third-tier outfit insist they will not consider parting with their hottest property unless they are offered something in the region of £10million for the player who cost only £350,000 when he arrived from Newcastle two years ago.
Club supremo Darragh MacAnthony told the Hard Truth podcast: “We have a player everyone in the country wants. Where he will go I have no idea, but in time he’ll probably become a multi-millionaire.
“We have big clubs in the Premier League and the Championship after him and we have some up-and-coming clubs in the mix, as well.
“Some of the figures I’m reading in the press though are insulting.
“I would ask that no-one tries to take the mickey out of us. You have to know who you are dealing with. This is not my first rodeo. I know how to operate.
“We have a fee in mind for Ivan and when a club reaches that number they can talk to him.
“It’s difficult to get the fee you want when there’s only one club interested, but it becomes a lot easier when there are multiple clubs after him.
“Good strikers are like dinosaurs. They are an endangered species.”
New backroom Bhoy Strachan, son of former Hoops boss Gordon, tipped off Neil Lennon about the qualities of Toney.
He ticks all the boxes for the Irishman, but it is highly unlikely the Parkhead hierarchy would beat their previous transfer record of the £9million paid for Odsonne Edouard from Paris Saint-Germain in June 2018.
Brentford, who beat Swansea 3-1 last night to go through 3-2 on aggregate to the play-off final for a place in the top flight, are also showing an interest and would receive a multi-million pound cash injection if they gatecrash the Premier League.
The Hoops, though, will continue to keep tabs on the player as the situation develops.
