Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Tottenham target Ivan Toney wants to leave Brentford but the priority is to stay in England.
The striker who has 68 goals and 21 assists for The Bees is one of the names linked with a move to Spurs as a Harry Kane replacement since the summer.
Tottenham lost their superstar striker to Bayern Munich in August and have not really replaced him with an out and out striker.
They did sign Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest on deadline day but Johnson is a versatile attacker who can play anywhere in attack.
Spurs are reportedly still keen on signing a striker and Toney could still be one of the options.
Fabrizio Romano previously reported that Toney is 100% going to leave Brentford in 2024.
And as per his latest update, the striker wants to move to a top English club.
Speaking on Monday’s episode of the DeBrief podcast, Romano said:
“There is a lot of interest since he joined CAA Stellar agency in the summer,”
“The idea of the player is to move to an English top club. There was interest from many clubs already last year, especially from Italy, some important clubs wanted to consider the opportunity to go and sign Ivan Toney but now joining Stellar group it means the priority of the player is to stay in England and to stay in Premier League.”
“There is interest from Arsenal, for sure he is a player appreciated by people at the club so they consider Toney as an important striker but we have to see if Arsenal want to spend a big amount of money again after what they did in the summer on many players like Declan Rice and Kai Havertz.”
“The same for Chelsea. We mention them for Victor Osimhen, but Ivan Toney is another striker they are following and monitoring because they will go for a striker in 2024 – let’s see if it’s going to be January or the summer.
“[…] We have to [also] see what Tottenham want to do. At the moment they are very happy with the squad but in case they go for a striker, Toney could be an opportunity.”
Brentford manager Thomas Frank has previously insisted that the striker is not for sale unless a bid worth more than £100million is put on the table but Romano claims a fee close to £65m could get a deal done.
“For Brentford, the price tag has to be something around £65 million.”
“Not less than £65 million. They want more than this but the feeling of sources is that for £65 million a deal could be done.”
TBH Says:
Tottenham will be up against Arsenal and Chelsea for his signing if they decide to make a move for him.
Chelsea have shown that they have no trouble splashing the cash if they want a player.
Meanwhile, Arsenal broke the bank to sign Declan Rice from West Ham, paying £105m for his services. They also spent big to sign Havertz in the past.
But whether Tottenham will fork out £65m plus for Toney remains to be seen. They did spend that kind of money on Richarlison last summer but that move has not really worked out so far.
They also pent £47.5m on Brennan Johnson in the summer. Whether they will spend big again on a striker remains to be seen.
