Starting his career at Northampton Town, Ivan Toney would be one of those players Newcastle United would have wished they'd not let go.

Signing for the Mags in 2015 straight from Northampton it was clear someone the scouting network had seen something of his talent.

But after playing just 4 times for Newcastle (twice in the league), a spell that included six different loan spells no less, the Magpies deemed him not good enough for their squad and future plans.

Something obviously wasn't clicking during his team at the club. Indeed I recall talking to a Championship manager during his time with Newcastle United and he said 'he'd never make it at the top level, why Newcastle decided to take him on is beyond me'.

Well roll on to 2023 and Toney received his first International Cap for England coming on for England's record scorer at the time, Harry Kane. By this time he'd already rejected the opportunity for play for Jamaica and had already been an unused substitute during 2022.

HIs rise to fame was meteoric. Having left Newcastle for Peterborough he would catch the attention of Premier League bound Brentford having scored 40 goals in just 76 games for the Posh. By the time he'd been called up for England he'd established himself as a very good Premier League standard striker, averaging over a goal a game for over 100 games.

At the end of the 2022/2023 season Toney was charged with 232 betting offences by the FA. A process that would ultimately see him banned for 11 months (reduced from the initial 15 months on appeal). Included in his betting offences were a total of 13 occasions where he'd bet on his own team to lose.

A significant blot on an otherwise excellent career.