Arsenal are in the market for a number nine, and they’ve been linked with a move for Brentford’s England international Ivan Toney for a while. The striker has been available for transfer since the day the window opened, but now he’s unlikely to be sold, meaning the Gunners will have to cross him off their list.
Toney, 28, ascended to the top of English football in the space of several years. After a prolific spell with Peterborough between 2018 and 2020, the forward moved on to Brentford, fired the Bees to promotion to the Premier League, and then helped them stay there. He’s now one of the best English strikers in the top tier, so it’s no wonder that the likes of Arsenal have taken a look.
After returning from a lengthy ban, it was made clear that Toney and Brentford were happy to part ways this summer. Toney wants to test himself at a club challenging for honours, and the Bees don’t want to see him leave on a free transfer in 2025 when they could make a significant profit on him by sanctioning a sale in this window.
What added further weight to the suggestion that Toney will be leaving Brentford was the big-money signing of striker Igor Thiago from Club Brugge. However, it’s now been revealed that the Brazilian has suffered a serious meniscus injury which required surgery, ruling him out until the end of 2024 in the best-case scenario.
It’s now highly likely that Thomas Frank will be keen to hold onto Toney for at least the first half of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, as he’s without Thiago, and the Bees are unlikely to go back to the market and spend when they already have a proven goal-getter in the building. It could also suit Toney, who could stay put until next summer, leave as a free agent, and have more options to choose from where his next destination is concerned.
Of course, this is bad news for Arsenal, who are tipped to do well next term according to online Premier League betting odds. If they had brought in Toney or someone of similar quality, you’d expect they’d have a realistic chance of knocking Manchester City off their perch, a perch they’ve occupied season after season. They will now have to look elsewhere to solve their striker conundrum.
Signing Toney made sense for Arsenal. They’ve recently turned David Raya’s loan from Brentford into a permanent deal, so the clubs are on good terms and capable of doing business with each other. The Bees are thought to have reduced their asking price for their talisman, and the player himself is keen to join one of the Premier League’s leading outfits. But it feels improbable that Brentford will be willing to start the coming season without Toney when he’s still in the building, at least until Thiago is back on the pitch and playing.
If we are interested in Toney and I think that’s a big if, then I think the deal is possible. Brenford are a shrewd club and will not want to see Toney walk away at the end of the season on a free. I think they will play hardball but a deal could be done at £35 million plus a few add ons and at that price Arsenal could be seriously tempted. What worries me is how he would fit into the squad, he’s not an out and out number 9 and needs a player to link up with. Which is pretty well where we are with Havertz who in my opinion is far better in that role.
I doubt whether Arsenal were ever interested in Toney. These “rumours” have been doing the rounds for almost a year, and are almost certainly agent-driven.