Over the last 12 months I have a love / hate relationship with Ivan Toney.
At the moment, I am in the “hate it” stage of our relationship. At 28-years-old, with his reported attitude problems and coming off a ban, I would not want us to be paying the £60m+ Brentford were demanding on him.
But then I also think of Ian Wright.
Wrighty joined The Arsenal in the early 90s at 28-year-old. He arrived with his own historical baggage and reports of attitude problems. He would go on to break our long-standing goalscoring record.
Ivan Toney was a notable absentee in the opening weekend of Premier League fixtures. He is also yet to appear for Brentford in pre-season having returned late having been with England over the summer. Reports are he was left out as he has made it clear to Thomas Frank that he wants to leave this summer.
There is now a stalemate between Brentford, Toney and any potential suitors.
Brentford want a huge transfer fee for a 28-year-old who has played little football in 12-months. Meanwhile Toney wants to leave and only has one-year left on his contract. We are now in a game of poker.
As we close in on transfer deadline day, the asking price for Toney will rapidily decrease. what was £60m+ is now reportedly only £40m. I would not be surprised if come the end of August, we are talking about a fee in the region of £30m. And that is a price I would love for Toney.
It is no secret that we are in the market for a new forward. And it is also no secret that Mikel Arteta is happy with Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
A new incoming striker would have to either be better than the pair, or be cheap enough that they could be competition and cover for Havertz, with Jesus then becoming competition and cover for the wingers. At £30m, Toney would be a good competition and cover for Havertz.
Toney’s acquisition would then see Jesus become the competition for Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing and cover for Bukayo Saka on the right that many have been crying out for. The Brazilian is two players in one, and he would continue to be an option upfront.
Role forward a year, and we may then decide to cash in on Jesus and sign a top quality left winger who is an improvement on Martinelli, with Gabi Martinelli then becoming the back-up winger / 3rd choice forward.
This can all only happen if a deal for Toney makes financial sense.
Toney has his aforementioned attitude problems. In every interview he has done in the last 12-months he has talking about his wish to leave Brentford. And just 4 goals in 17 games since returning from his ban perhaps shows a player who has some of his sharpness, motivation or enthusiasm.
When you consider that Spurs have spent £65m on Dominic Solanke (18 months Toney’s junior), then anything under £40m for Toney will be a great deal.
One stumbling block for Arsenal could be Manchester City.
Having sold Julian Alvarez for £80m, City no longer have cover for Erling Haaland. Toney could just as easily fulfil that role as he would be cover and competition for Havertz.
Whilst Man City would offer him a better chance of trophies, Arsenal would offer him more opportunities for minutes to stay in London.
The longer Toney stays at Brentford without playing, the cheaper he gets. And the cheaper her gets, the more interested teams will become.
Do Arsenal want Toney?
Will Toney want to be 2nd choice at Arsenal?
How cheap will Brentford go to?
How much will Arsenal be willing to pay?
Will Man City be a factor?
And could Eddie Nketiah go the other way?
Let us know your thoughts.
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
In my past, football teams thrived on a solid, talented spine of a keeper , centre back and No9, who each did nothing else. Arteta plays a jigsaw system around only two of those.
It hasn’t yet delivered at the top. We’re hardly qualified to say it won’t. By it’s no surprise that pundits are urging the import of that third bit of the spine (someone even a risk in dressing room harmony), a nothing but goals arrow in the middle.
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Great article Keenos. I agree 100% in what you said about the attitude worry and Ian Wrights previous baggage that turned out to be a non issue after we signed him. Also the needed competition for Havertz, especially in the big games against the top 4 or 6 teams as well as Europe, where Havertz has been a no show at times. We need quality options for prolific strikers up front and if Tony is available for £30m or less, then it would be a crime not to bid for him at that price. You read my mind in the article, 100%, it’s what most fans would want. Keep Havertz while he is on form and scoring by all means, but he will have bad patches, especially against tougher opponents as last year suggested, so why not have a bit of competition up front, unlike Jesus or Nketiah we need a real true number 9 Center Forward, to compete with Havertz as their are too many games to play with Europe and Domestic competitions. Havertz will get injured or have a dip in form.
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I think there is absolutely no chance of Arsenal buying Ivan Toney. He initially showed an unacceptable gloating attitude for his “nice kick about with the boys” comment 3 years ago. Arsenal and Mikel would not like one of their players to do that. Imagine an Arsenal player posting that after beating Man City? Totally stupid. Then, last season when there was talk of him coming to Arsenal, he has a flare up with Jesus on the pitch and wanted to finish the disagreement in the tunnel! In my view that ended his chances of going to Arsenal. I don’t think Mikel would have him even if he was free. Aubameyang was less trouble than he would be and he had to go. Harvertz is better and will score more goals anyway.
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To be fair, you make a good point about his foot in mouth attitude. He also said “If Brentford were to sell me and make their money, I move to Madrid and it’s all good!” He has not helped himself.
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