Dean Jones has revealed his sources have claimed that Arsenal are yet to make a final decision on whether or not to pursue rumoured Tottenham target Ivan Toney in January.
Over the past few weeks, multiple outlets have reported that Spurs are set to compete with Arsenal and Chelsea for Toney’s signature when his ban lapses in January.
This includes The Daily Express, who revealed on September 23 that the centre-forward has already expressed his desire to leave Brentford and that the Bees have started looking for potential replacements.
The Daily Mirror reported on September 28 that Mikel Arteta is hopeful of convincing the England international to move to the Emirates over their London rivals.
The report explained that having persuaded Declan Rice to pick them over other Premier League sides in the summer, the Gunners believe that they could also do the same with the Bees star by explaining their big ambitions to the player.
(Photo by MB Media/Getty Images)
Should Spurs try and beat Arsenal to Ivan Toney?
However, Jones has now suggested that reports of Arsenal readying a move for Toney are premature, insisting that Arteta’s men might not want to spend a huge fee on a striker when they also need reinforcements in other areas of the pitch.
The journalist said (via TEAMtalk): “There continues to be a lot of noise around Ivan Toney potentially joining Arsenal but my understanding of the situation is that there has not even been a decision yet on Arsenal signing a striker, so to expect them to sign one at around £80m really is a stretch.
“It seems pretty clear that Toney is up for that move, he’s talking about them in a very positive way and I don’t blame him for wanting to join a club like that.
“But it’s a lot of money and Arsenal are also having to weigh up if they might need some sort of backup to Bukayo Saka in the second half of the season so this is a very layered situation.
“And that’s before we even consider that spending big on Toney in January would seriously impact on their spending next summer.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Irrespective of whether Arsenal are ready to pay £80m for Toney, I simply cannot see Spurs being willing to commit such a big amount on a single player as that is not the club’s business model.
I expect the Lilywhites to focus on signing a centre-back and a midfielder in January, and to address the striker issue next summer.
Have something to tell us about this article?
