Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour believes the Gunners should sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney as a replacement for the injured Gabriel Jesus.
Jesus joined the north London side from Manchester City for around £45 million last summer and has been a key member since. He contributed five goals and six assists in 14 Premier League games before suffering a knee injury at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Brazilian striker has undergone surgery and is expected to return to action in March. Arsenal currently only have Eddie Nketiah as a No. 9 and perhaps need to sign a striker in January.
Parlour believes Toney could be a good fit at the Emirates as he told Lord Ping:
“I still believe in Ivan Toney. I really liked the way he plays. He’s always on people’s shoulders. We all know he’s been brilliant for Brentford this season. This is no disrespecting Brentford because they’re doing so well but imagine you have got Odegaard and Saka giving you chances as well we might score a lot more goals than what he has done.”
He added:
“I don’t know much the price would be for Ivan Toney. He’s very unlucky not to go to the World Cup. It would be something different for Gareth. I thought he would have been if he could start games.”
Toney has scored an incredible 13 goals and has provided three assists for Brentford in 17 Premier League games this season. He sits only behind Erling Haaland (21) and Harry Kane (15) in the league’s goalscoring charts.
Arsenal highly interested in signing Chelsea target in the summer
As per The Guardian, Arsenal have made signing West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice their priority for the summer transfer window.
The England international has been impressive for club and country in recent years and has attracted a lot of interest from multiple clubs. Chelsea are also interested in signing Rice, who was once part of their youth setup.
However, the West Ham captain has previously expressed his desire to play in the UEFA Champions League. The Blues are currently 10 points off the fourth spot in the Premier League table, while Arsenal have an eight-point lead at the top of the table.
Rice, 24, has played 220 senior games for West Ham and has also registered 11 goals and 13 assists.