'He deserves to be with us' - Al Ahli's Toney earns England recall | OneFootball

Ivan Toney has been rewarded with his superb debut season in the Roshn Saudi League by being recalled to the England squad for next month’s matches against Andorra and Senegal.

The Al Ahli striker, who moved to the Kingdom last August, has been a revelation during his debut campaign at the Jeddah club, playing a pivotal role in their historic AFC Champions League Elite success last month.

Toney has been in inspired form in the RSL, also: his goal in Thursday night’s home defeat to Al Ettifaq lifted him to 22 for the 2024-25 season.

Going into Monday’s final day, the former Brentford frontman lies second in the scoring charts and is therefore in with a chance of usurping current holder Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the golden boot. The Al Nassr captain has 24 league goals.

With one matchweek remaining, Al Ahli sit fifth in the table, three points off Al Nassr in fourth.

Speaking on Friday, as he announced his latest England squad, manager Thomas Tuchel said of Toney: "He deserves to be with us and I am convinced because he scored over 20 goals for his team this season.

“He won a major title with the Asian Champions League; he had a big contribution with goals and assists. I said [in March] that I would try to put a visit in my schedule [to Saudi Arabia], which I didn't make, so I thought bring him over and let him travel with us."

Toney’s most recent England appearance arrived last summer before his move to Al Ahli, in the UEFA Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain. He has six caps overall.

England face Andorra in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on June 7, before hosting Senegal in a friendly in Nottingham three days later.

The latter potentially pits Toney against Al Ahli teammate Edouard Mendy, while Al Hilal's Kalidou Koulibaly and Al Nassr's Sadio Mane could also feature alongside Habib Diallo, the Al Shabab forward on loan at Damac.