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FourFourTwo
Sport
Mark White

Arsenal report: Ivan Toney exit talks revealed, as Gunners are urged to sign England superstar on a cut-price opportunity to give them 'a different dimension' in the title race

Arsenal target Ivan Toney while playing for Brentford.

Long-term Arsenal target Ivan Toney is in talks to leave Brentford. 

Bees boss Thomas Frank left his talismanic No.9 out of the side that faced Crystal Palace over the weekend, with whispers intensifying over the England striker's imminent departure. Brentford didn't need the 28-year-old in the end either, winning 2-1 with Yoanne Wissa leading the line.

“Ivan is a top player, we all know that,” Frank said on the high-profile exclusion. “He has been a fantastic player for us for four years, but we showed last year we could cope without him,” adding that the conversation around leaving Toney out of the matchday squad was not a difficult one. 

Thomas Frank omitted Toney from his matchday squad to face Crystal Palace (Image credit: Getty Images)

Now, the Athletic have given a detailed report on Toney's links with Saudi Arabian club, Al Ahli. The outlet have picked up on Arsenal's historic interest, too, confirming that, “Kai Havertz’s form up front in the second half of last season made their need for a new striker less pressing.”

The Gunners currently have Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Leandro Trossard as options at No.9. BBC Sport's The Rest is Football line-up of Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer have all urged the Gunners to sign Toney, however, in a bid to topple Manchester City from their throne at the top of the league.

VIDEO Why Arsenal Want Mikel Merino So Badly

“He might not be ideal for Arsenal's style, how they want to press and play, but he's a different option from off the bench,” Richards said on the podcast. “He would give them something different, a different dimension. Especially looking at the numbers, he's got a year left on his contract and there was talk about him going for only £15m. For a player who was valued at £70m a couple of seasons ago.”

“I like Ivan Toney a lot,” Lineker agreed. “I think he's super talented and gives you a completely different from what else they've got. He's a real threat and technically a really good footballer so I think he would fit in at Arsenal. Once you're at the stage where a player is left out, the writing does appear to be on the wall.”

Gary Lineker believes that Ivan Toney should move to Arsenal (Image credit: Getty Images)

Far be from FourFourTwo to question Lineker and Richards – but we actually disagree with the BBC pair on this one. FFT understands that Arsenal are no longer in the running to sign Toney anyway, but given that the forward is looking to take a step up in his career, joining the Gunners on a big-money contract to be a second option behind Havertz doesn't seem like a sensible use of resources for a club who have reaped a lot of success from signing younger stars with their best ahead of them.

Toney is worth €50 million according to Transfermarkt. His contract expires next summer. 

More Arsenal stories

Arsenal primed to complete the signing of Mikel Merino, following Liverpool withdrawing from the race to sign his clubmate, Martin Zubimendi. Negotiations with Real Sociedad have begun, with an agreement in place with the player. Another target, Wojciech Szczesny, has had his contract terminated at Juventus, while Alan Shearer has tipped Arsenal to beat Manchester City to the Premier League title, so long as they can make one key signing.

In other news, one former Chelsea and Arsenal star has revealed all about working with Wenger and Mourinho. He told FFT, too, that when he played with Arteta, you could see he would definitely be a coach.

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