Express & Star

Wolves close to £500,000 deal for Ivan Toney

Wolves were today hoping to complete the £500,000-plus signing of Northampton Town striker Ivan Toney.

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The 18-year-old spent yesterday at Compton undergoing a medical which is continuing today for a loan deal which will become permanent in January.

It's understood the clubs agreed a revised fee yesterday after Wolves were knocked back with a £250,000 approach last week.

Add-ons on top could take the fee towards Northampton's demands of £1m for Toney to become the club's second new striker in a week after on-loan Danny Graham.

  • At 16, he became the youngest first team player in the Cobblers' history.

  • Scored in Northampton’s 3-2 Capital One Cup win over Wolves in August.

  • Has five goals in his last 13 games for the League Two side.

  • His overhead-kick finish was voted Northampton's goal of the season for 2013-14.

  • Only has 31 senior appearances to his name.

Toney looks set to replace Leon Clarke, who looks like being loaned out after being frozen out of the 18 for last Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Assuming the deal goes through, Toney will leave the Cobblers as their record sale and their youngest player.

The fee is said to outstrip the initial £500,000 Blackburn paid for keeper Mark Bunn in August 2008.

Primarily a target man, the six foot-plus striker is said to be excellent in the air and awkward for defenders.

But he is raw having made just 15 League starts and a further 16 appearances off the bench in a total of 38 games.

Toney grew up in Northampton but was snapped up by Leicester's academy only to be released as a 16-year-old.

But he became the Cobblers' youngest player as an injury-time substitute in an FA Cup tie at Bradford in November 2012.

Toney, who opened his account for this season in Northampton's 3-2 Capital One Cup win at Molineux in August, has scored six of his nine career goals this season, most of them headers.

Last season he became an instant hero when he scored twice in a 3-0 win at Dagenham and once in a 3-1 home success against Oxford to help secure the Cobblers' Football League future.

Toney, who came under Wolves academy coach Sean Parrish at Northampton, has netted twice in his last three games.

Clarke has scored just twice in 24 League appearances in his second spell at Molineux after joining for £750,000 in January, with nine starts.

Meanwhile, any hope of signing Leicester's out-of-favour winger Anthony Knockaert appear to have been dashed.

City don't want to allow anyone to leave before January's transfer window.

Leeds and Wolves were reported to be interested in the 23-year-old, who can also play behind a striker.

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