Chelsea become new favourites to sign Ivan Toney with Arsenal, Tottenham tipped to pull out of race

Chelsea are reportedly leading the race for Ivan Toney amid claims that Arsenal and Tottenham are unwilling to match Brentford’s price tag.

The striker is currently suspended from football after being found guilty of gambling breaches but will return when his ban expires on January 17.

Toney is still admired by several top clubs despite his lengthy absence. The 27-year-old scored a fantastic 20 goals in 33 Premier League appearances for Brentford last season.

As previously reported by Football365, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea are all big admirers of Toney. It’s no secret that all three clubs are keen to sign a new centre-forward, so they could make a move for him this winter.

The England international recently changed his agency to CAA Stellar, which indicates that he is keen to leave Brentford for a bigger club in January.

Thomas Frank recently admitted that Toney is up for sale, too, and transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has said that the fee required to sign him in January will be around £65m.

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According to reports from Spain, as cited by GOAL.com, Arsenal and Tottenham are indeed ‘interested in Toney,’ but are unwilling to meet Brentford’s price demands.

It’s claimed that Brentford will actually consider offers around the £60m mark. But even that figure – £5m less than Romano’s best guess – has ‘raised doubts’ within the North London clubs.

Chelsea, on the other hand, have not been put off by Toney’s valuation, which suggests that they are the new favourites to bring him in.

Romano revealed on Twitter on Sunday that a new striker will be Chelsea’s ‘priority’ in the January window. Toney is thought to be at the top of Mauricio Pochettino’s shortlist, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Blues make a bid for him.

Chelsea are no strangers to splashing the cash. Since Todd Boehly took control of the club in May 2022, they have spent a staggering £950m on new players.

With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if Boehly takes his spend over the £1bn mark with a £60m+ offer for Toney in the January transfer window.

Given his goal scoring record, Toney could be exactly the player they need to push for a top four spot in the second half of the season.

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