Brentford manager Thomas Frank is looking forward to frustrating Arsenal this winter, hinting that an Ivan Toney transfer to Arsenal may not take place.
Toney is set to return to competitive football when the Premier League returns, after serving a suspension from football activities (since late last season) for a betting offense.
Brentford, of course, has missed his services and would welcome the opportunity to enjoy his goalscoring ability for as long as possible. Even so, Arsenal appear to believe that Toney is the striker to take them to the next level, and they have been linked with a deal for him this winter.
If Arsenal wants to recruit Toney, they may have to pay a lot of money, as the Brentford manager insisted in his most recent press conference.
“The very short answer is yes,” said Frank, when asked if Toney would stay. “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.
“It is not for me to discuss (an offer), but if I could ever recommend one, it would need to be an unbelievable price, so he will stay here.”
Last Minute Arsenal v Liverpool Tickets – Buy Now!
With Arsenal unlikely to be able to complete a £100 million+ transfer this winter due to FFP limitations after their heavy spending last summer, I believe it is time for the Gooners to tame their expectations and not be upset if they don’t sign Toney and wind up signing Benjamin Sesko or another promising youngster on loan deals.
Darren N
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
Thomas Frank knows, you say that to stubborn Arteta and he pulls all stops, loses focus on value, and only thinks of spiting you, only to realise later he bought “Fools Gold”. Reverse psychology always works with small minds.
One third of Toneys goals come from penalties, which means that he is not a true 20 goal a season striker, more like 14 goals a season. So why would Arsenal pay more than £35 million for a 14 goal a season ( too old) 27 year old?
Let’s hope Chelsea or Manu are stupid enough to buy the average scoring striker. Let’s buy a real 20 goal a season striker like Gimenez who performs 20+ goals a season every year, who is a lot younger, a lot cheaper and is also a proven European goal scorer as well as domestic. He is a natural scorer and twice the striker that Toney is.
Ivan Toney is not worth anything over 75m. He is unproven and unreliable with Premier League gambling rules. There is no guarantee he will score any goals with Arsenal or anyone else.
He scored a hat trick and an assist in his warm up game against Southampton U23’s yesterday, so looks like he still has his form.
I’m still not keen on him though.