New Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino
Chelsea are reportedly the favourites to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney in January, despite competition from Manchester United and Tottenham.
The England international is currently banned from playing football until January 17 after being found guilty of breaching betting rules.
Despite this, a host of European clubs are said to hold an interest in Toney after he put in some fantastic performances in the Premier League last season.
The England international netted 20 goals in 33 league appearances for Brentford last term, trailing only Erling Haaland (36) and Kane (30) in the scoring charts.
As previously reported by footballboast, Tottenham are keen on signing Toney in January, while Man Utd are also big admirers of his.
It is worth noting, however, that Toney’s preferred move would be to join Arsenal. Whether or not the Gunners will come in for him, however, is unclear at this stage.
Any deal for the striker will not be cheap, though, with Brentford only willing to consider bids in excess of £80m for their talisman.
Chelsea ‘confident’ of signing Toney in January
According to reports from Spain, as cited by Football365, Chelsea are ‘confident’ of signing Toney in January, with Mauricio Pochettino ‘still looking for a solution to his team’s problems in front of goal.”
The Blues have brought in attacking duo Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku this season, but the latter is sidelined for several months with an injury.
Jackson has started all four of Chelsea’s Premier League matches so far this season, scoring one goal in a 3-0 victory over Luton Town.
Chelsea could certainly do with an experienced Prem striker to provide competition for Jackson, though, so it’s no surprise they are considering a move for Toney.
As per the report, the Blues are ‘already planning a strategy to reinforce their attacking line in January’ and Toney ‘has come up again in transfer talks’ after he was linked with a move to Stamford Bridge over the summer.
Despite his ban, Chelsea see Toney as ‘the solution to his goal-scoring problems and are willing to wait for his return’ and they hope ‘his arrival could revitalise the team in the second half of the season’.
