Legendary England striker, Gary Lineker, has urged Arsenal to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney.
Toney is expected to leave Brentford before transfer deadline day on August 30, having been the subject of firm interest from Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli.
He was left out of the Brentford’s matchday squad for their first Premier League game of the season on Sunday, a controversial 2-1 win at home to Crystal Palace.
Post-match, Brentford manager Thomas Frank admitted that he ‘hopes’ a deal can be done to sell Toney, who’s in the final year of his contract and would leave for free next summer.
The Rest is Football podcast trio of Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer (via Mirror) all agree that Arsenal should be in the mix, believing they need to sign a striker in order to pip Manchester City to the league title.
“You know who I would go and buy? Ivan Toney,” Richards began. “He was left out obviously and there’s talk about him going to Saudi. He might not be ideal for Arsenal’s style, how they want to press and play, but he’s a different option from off the bench.
“He would give them something different, a different dimension. Especially looking at the numbers, he’s got a year left on his contract and there was talk about him going for only £15m. For a player who was valued at £70m a couple of seasons ago. In terms of what he can offer, I think he would be a good fit.”
