Of all the Hammers\u2019 potential Fullkrug replacements \u2013 a move to AC Milan could be sealed imminently<\/a>, perhaps as early as Boxing Day \u2013 Ivan Toney<\/a> would be welcomed with the most open of arms.<\/p>\n Niclas Fullkrug seems Milan-bound! \u2708\ufe0f \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 <\/p>\n What sort of deal would you be willing to accept for him?<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n Toney is certainly the dream target<\/a> for many claret and blue supporters. As close to a \u2018sure thing\u2019 as Nuno Espirito Santo<\/a> could hope for.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, in the midst of incessant rumours surrounding a Premier League return \u2013 Toney could be left out of England\u2019s World Cup squad<\/a> if he spends the remainder of the campaign at Al-Hilal \u2013 the main obstacle facing his suitors is a financial one.<\/p>\n Ivan Toney makes final decision on Premier League return and West Ham United move<\/p>\n Hammers News were told earlier this month that Toney is unlikely to become a West Ham player<\/a> in the New Year.<\/p>\n In addition to Al-Hilal paying \u00a340 million to sign the late-blooming centre-forward from Brentford, the one-time Newcastle prospect earns a staggering \u00a3400,000-a-week in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n Not only would he have to take a massive pay cut at West Ham \u2013 the Londoners have made a concerted effort to reduce the age of their squad as well as their wage bill \u2013 there is also the tax situation to consider.<\/p>\n Saudi publication Hi Kora<\/a> believe that Toney has \u2018completely disregarded\u2019 a January exit. He is happy in the Middle East. Al-Hilal are happy with him, too. <\/p>\n Toney has scored 12 times in 18 matches this season, and appears Al-Hilal\u2019s best hope of overhauling Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s Al-Nassr at the top of the Pro League table.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia\u2019s tax rules mean Toney is likely to stay put <\/p>\n Ben Jacobs, a reporter with a keen interest in Middle Eastern football, explained to talkSPORT<\/a> recently the financial motivations for Toney remaining at the typically opulently-titled Kingdom Arena. Those \u00a3400,000 weekly smackeroons, it seems, are only part of the reason.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m getting the notion of a Saudi exit in January downplayed,\u201d Jacobs said. \u201cWe know that Tottenham, because of the\u00a0Thomas Frank\u00a0connection [his former boss at Brentford], and West Ham United are two clubs that certainly retain an interest in Ivan Toney if he becomes genuinely available.<\/p>\n \u201cBut Al Ahli don\u2019t want to let him go. Toney continues to say he\u2019s settled in\u00a0Saudi Arabia. If he comes back to England specifically, he\u2019s also going to have a massive tax bill as well.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I think a January exit for Ivan Toney is unlikely, but let\u2019s see what happens in the summer because by that stage, the tax implications are a little bit kinder.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause the way it works is, you\u2019ve basically got to stay for two tax years. So once Ivan Toney gets into April and into the new tax year, then he\u2019s in a much kinder position if he wants to consider a move back to the Premier League.\u201d<\/p>\n Who is the WORST West Ham striker of the 21st century and why? <\/p>\n And who do YOU think can break the curse?<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n West Ham face further issues as Joshua Zirkzee and Promise David hope to stay<\/p>\n Toney joined Al-Hilal only 16 months ago. <\/p>\n He would therefore face a similar situation to Jordan Henderson when the now-Brentford midfielder left Al-Ettifaq after only six months. Due to those tax regulations, Henderson lost out on the entirety of his \u00a3350,000-a-week fortune, per The Telegraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interestingly, Jacobs provided a five-strong list of centre-forwards<\/a> who may be more likely to join the Hammers next month. Speaking to Give Me Sport<\/a>, he named Norwich City\u2019s Josh Sargent, Union Saint-Gilloise\u2019s Promise David, Manchester United\u2019s Joshua Zirkzee, Nottingham Forest\u2019s Chris Wood and Troy Parrott, AZ Alkmaar\u2019s Irish hero.<\/p>\n Those Sargent links have not been well received<\/a> by a fanbase fearing a future in the Championship. \u2018Baby Lukaku\u2019 David reportedly prefers to stay in Belgium<\/a>. Ditto Zirkzee at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n AZ will be in no rush to part with Parrott, meanwhile, and Wood\u2019s recent injury issues at the City Ground may have Nuno thinking twice about a reunion with his former Burnley targetman.<\/p>\n Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Ham United have been linked with a seemingly innumerable number of strikers already, as Niclas Fullkrug edges…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,1643,784,221,120402,5386,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-324830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-ivan-toney","10":"tag-joshua-zirkzee","11":"tag-premier-league","12":"tag-promise-david","13":"tag-saudi-arabia","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Niclas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Fullkrug-Nuno-quotes-819x1024.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Ivan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2231659722-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Clicks Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n