Peterborough United almost missed out on signing star man Ivan Toney, but now they are set to cash in big-time

Former Posh manager Steve Evans is proud to have signed Toney for his hometown club, but he is grateful to club chairman Darragh MacAnthony, Portsmouth striker John Marquis and Ipswich Town FC for enabling it to happen.

Toney was always at the top of Evans’ shopping list in the summer of 2018, but after signing Stevenage forward Matt Godden and taking Jason Cummings on loan from Nottingham Forest there was only one other place available.

Evans recalled: “I wanted Ivan, but John Marquis was also on our radar and we narrowed it down to him and Ivan, but John was adamant he wanted to go to Portsmouth at the end of that season.

“But before anything happened with Ivan, Kayden Jackson became available and me and the chairman fancied him as well. We thought we’d done a deal with Accrington for him until Ipswich stepped in and took him so all our attention switched to Ivan and luckily we got him out of Newcastle. I’d seen him play for Scunthorpe at the end of the previous season and he was virtually a one-man team. I was confident he would become a star and I can honestly see him leading the line at a Premier League club or at the biggest Championship club, Leeds United right now.”

Toney cost Posh under £400k, whereas Ipswich spent £1.5 million on Jackson.

Posh are expected to make a huge profit when Toney is sold later this year. Director of football Barry Fry revealed Posh turned down a £4 million bid from the New York Red Bulls earlier this month,