Arsenal and Chelsea receive a major boost after Brentford’s director confirmed that their forward Ivan Toney could be on his way out very soon.
The Bees have time and again claimed that Toney is not up for sale during the middle of the season but now, technical director Lee Dykes has admitted that the right fee could ignite a sale at the start of the new year.
He told the club’s media, as quoted by Goal: “Yes, there will be lots of interest in Ivan in January. Naturally, there should be. He was the third-highest Premier League goalscorer last season – one of them [Harry Kane] has gone to Germany now, so he’s up there as one of the best strikers in the division. He is in the top five in the world, in my opinion.
“So there should be interest, and maybe the time comes very shortly that Ivan moves on to another club. But they will have to pay a decent transfer fee to acquire his services because he is some talent.
“There’s a real ambition from [Ivan] and I can see in his eyes that he’s going to be better than he’s ever been; I really believe that will be the case”
Arsenal have been chasing Ivan Toney for more than a year while Chelsea have joined the bandwagon in the previous few weeks and now that he is up for sale, we are expecting a fierce transfer battle between the two London sides.
Ivan Toney scored 21 goals in 35 games for the Bees last season but he is yet to play this campaign due to a suspension. However, he will be back in January and Brentford are quoting in excess of £80 million for the 27-year-old.
Arsenal have decided not to sell Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah until the summer window which means they will have to pay out of their pockets if they wish to bring in Toney. Thomas Partey is up for sale but that money will be used to bring in a like-for-like replacement in central midfield.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have a crisis of attacking options and their manager has made it clear that he needs reinforcements in January. Nicolas Jackson and Broja are not fit enough to lead the line while Lukaku isn’t coming back so Boehly won’t shy away from spending money and that’s going to be the biggest obstacle for Arsenal.
Ivan Toney is said to be keen on wanting to join Arsenal but if the Gunners are not ready to pay up then Brentford will be more than happy to send him to Stamford Bridge.
