Ibrox View: Reported target Toney is too similar to Morelos to justify big Rangers spend
Rangers have been warned that they won’t be able to poach Peterborough United striker Ivan Toney on the cheap this summer.
Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony has made it very clear that he will not be offloading his star man for anything other than a substantial fee this summer, with the Gers one of a number of clubs who are said to be keen on the 24-year-old, as per The Scottish Sun.
Bearing in mind that the Sun also suggest that Brentford had an £8 million offer rejected in January, it’s not unreasonable to assume that it would take a substantial fee to get a deal over the line this summer.
But would it be worth splashing such a huge amount of cash on a single player?
Toney is certainly a little bit special.
With 26 goals this season, there are few strikers in Britain who can match him in terms of his tally.
In fact, one of the few strikers who has matched is our very own Alfredo Morelos.
So how does he compare?
To be perfectly honest, El Bufalo outstrips him in most areas.
The Colombian has a higher shot accuracy, a higher xG, more shot assists, more progressive runs, and more touches in the opposition box than Toney per game, as per Wyscout.
In fact, the only area he massively outdoes Morelos is in his dribble completion rate, which is 7.2% better.
But is that really enough to justify an eight-figure payout?
Probably not.
And that’s kind of the issue with making a move for Toney.
All of the good parts of his game, Morelos seems to do them better.
Take, for example, their two respective shot maps.
Above is Toney’s over the last few months, below is Morelos’.
Granted, Toney has scored a lot more goals than Morelos in 2020 – and we all know all too well about his slump recently – but in terms of the number of chances they are creating and the areas in which they operate, they are all but identical.
We see the same thing with heat maps.
Morelos’ is above, Toney’s is below.
The Peterborough man may have played more minutes, and may drift into wider positions more often, but for the most part, these are two striker who both like to operate in the box, between the goalposts.
There’s not enough variation, and unless Gerrard is looking to diversify his squad with a broader array of attacking threats, it’s hard to justify forking out the kind of money that MacAnthony is clearly hankering after.
In other Rangers news, Ibrox View: Rangers made right choice to get rid of reported Man United target Umar Sadiq.