Ivan Toney’s interview with Sky Sports may well have dealt a crushing blow to any attempt from Arsenal to sign the English forward.
Brentford forward Ivan Toney is currently serving a ban from football due to his alleged breach of betting rules and has been out of the Bees team throughout the entirety of the season.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are crying out for a centre-forward of some capacity who knows how to put the ball in the back of the net as Gabriel Jesus may well be out of the team due to an injury.
Goals have certainly been hard to come by for Arsenal too with the Gunners somehow failing to score against Liverpool in the FA Cup and losing 2-0 to the Merseyside club.
Toney deals Arsenal blow
Well, one forward who has been heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium is Brentford forward Toney but the Englishman has cast doubt over a move to the North London club in a recent interview with Sky Sports.
“Thomas Frank has been nothing but the biggest help I could have asked for. The whole club has,” Toney said. “From putting extra sessions on for me, from taking their time out to put a session on, to go outside when it’s raining, when they’re not even supposed to be in, all these kinds of things.
“I have a lot to be paying them and I can’t wait to try and do that. Everybody’s been supportive. The club that was right behind me from the first bit, and the fans were behind me as well, which was a massive part.”
This is a big blow to Arsenal’s chances who were heavily linked with a move for the English forward but had been quoted £100 million, according to The Independent.
Arsenal’s options
Brentford certainly look to be struggling in the Premier League at this moment in time with five defeats on the bounce in England’s top division.
As a result, selling Toney certainly looks to be far-fetched and Thomas Frank has said as much when asked about the future of the Englishman.
“The very short answer is yes,” said Frank, when asked if Toney would be staying at the club beyond January. “He is a Brentford player. He is here, we miss a few offensive players and I cannot see why we should sell him. I would love to have him here for a long time.”
This would be a huge blow and Arsenal may well have to explore the striker market to try and solve their issues in the goalscoring department.
Toney looks to be off the table but you wonder if the Gunners may well avoid signing a striker in the winter window altogether, and prioritise a move in the summer market.
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