Ivan Toney opens up about his admiration for Liverpool and Arsenal during podcast appearance

Brentford forward Ivan Toney has revealed his admiration for Liverpool and Arsenal after being asked about "the right club" during a recent podcast appearance.

The 27-year-old England international joined British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett on the Diary Of A CEO podcast to speak about a range of subjects, including his addiction to gambling and the impact it's had on his mental health.

Toney, who has been suspended from all football-related activity for eight months and fined £50,000 for breaching The FA’s Betting Rules, was also asked about his next potential club if he was to leave Brentford.

After saying he wants to play "at the top", Toney said if the chance did come along to play for a club challenging for trophies, then he would be "silly" not to look into it.

The former Newcastle and Peterborough forward also claimed that Brentford manager Thomas Frank knows that he wants to play at the highest level possible.

"Whenever that time comes, so be it," he added. "My time at Brentford has been good; one of the best times of my career."

Toney went on to say that if he was to move, then the next club would be "the right one".

Bartlett was quick to question his statement, saying: "When you say the right club, you're not talking about Liverpool, are you? I heard you're a Liverpool fan..."

Toney responded: “I have been a Liverpool fan my whole life, but I have liked Arsenal... I like watching Arsenal and how they play and kind of how passionate the fans are.

"But, yeah, Liverpool fan, Liverpool boy at heart.”

As mentioned above, the striker also opened up about his eight month ban after he admitted 232 breaches of betting rules between February 2017 and January 2021.

On the podcast, Toney recalled being turned away at restaurants and by car insurers and at restaurants during the allegation stages.

"I remember at the time when there was allegations, I wanted to go to a restaurant and they were like, 'No you can't - we're not taking you,'" he said.

"I was like, 'what do you mean?' and then it was the allegations, we're not allowing you in or something like this. I was actually so confused.

"I was thinking, 'For starters, it's allegations and second of all you are a restaurant how can you not let someone in because of bad press?'

"I was just baffled, and my car insurance, they wouldn't insure me due to the whole scandal. And I was like. 'Car insurance? They won't have me on their books?'. It was baffling."

He added: "The impact it [betting] would have is waiting for payday. I'd pay for everything I need to sort and then I would be like, 'I've got this much to play with'.

"I took care of what needed to be taken care of then in my head it's like, 'My money is my money and I can spend it how I want'."