‘Very difficult’: Pundit thinks £30m star would be tempted to join Arsenal after 33-goal season

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Brentford striker Ivan Toney will have a ‘very difficult choice to make’ if Premier League giants Arsenal come calling during the summer transfer window, former Bees hero Sam Sodje told All Nigeria Soccer. 

Brentford certainly gave their chances of retaining the Championship record-breaker an almighty shot in the arm during May’s play-off final victory over Swansea City. 

Toney’s tenth-minute penalty at Wembley – his 33rd goal of a remarkable campaign – set the Londoners on their way to the promised land.  

But, as Norwich City supporters will tell you, there is no guarantee that every single one of your star players will stay put, even after promotion is secured. 

Emi Buendia joined Aston Villa in a £33 million deal earlier this month and, should an Arsenal, a West Ham or a Chelsea make a similarly eye-watering bid for Toney, some serious chin-stroking would follow.

Would Ivan Toney leave Brentford for Arsenal?

“There’s a time I was in that position where you play for Brentford and big clubs come for you,” said Sodje, who spent two years in West London between 2004 and 2006. 

“Brentford have gone up, Toney had a great season so this might be the opportunity to play for a top of the Premier League club.

“But at the same time you want him to play games in the Premier League so he has to go to a club or stay at Brentford where he’ll get games in the Premier League.

“When it comes to individual goals, it’s not every day you get the opportunity to play for Arsenal, Manchester United or the big clubs, so it is a very difficult choice to make.

“There are two things, either you stay at Brentford, play every game or take the opportunity to play for a big club.”

With the likes of Alexander Isak, Andre Silva and Dusan Vlahovic in high-demand, it seems that Arsenal are indeed in the market for a new centre-forward; one capable of filling an Alexandre Lacazette-shaped void in Mikel Arteta’s attack. 

TEAMtalk reported in March that Toney is valued at £30 million by Brentford.

Three months later, with promotion in the bag, it may cost even more than that to lure the most prolific striker in Championship history away from the Premier League newcomers.