Brentford appear resigned to losing Ivan Toney with the club yet to even engage in new contract talks amid interest from Arsenal.
The forward is set to return having served a lengthy gambling ban but only has 18 months left on his deal in west London. It is the same contract Toney signed when he joined from Peterborough four years ago and the Bees, whilst determined to retain him this month, appear ready to accept his departure.
The Daily Mail reports the two parties have not come round the negotiation table, leading to conclusions that Brentford have accepted a likely summer departure, with the Gunners among those linked with a mega-money move for the forward.
Thomas Frank has previously confessed that the Bees will sell their biggest assets for the right price. David Raya was allowed to leave for Arsenal, initially on loan, with the club expecting to offload him for a notable profit next summer.
Frank has now been asked whether Toney will stay at Brentford this month and said: “The very short answer: yes. He is a Brentford player; he is here. Clearly we miss a few offensive players; I can’t see why we would sell him, and I would love to have him for a longer time. If I ever, ever could recommend [his sale], and it’s not for me to say yes or no — that’s Phil [Giles, director of football] or Matthew [Benham, owner] — then it needs to be for an unbelievable price. So he will stay here.”
Arsenal, who are also facing potential competition from London rivals Chelsea, will have to pay top dollar if they want to land Toney with figures of £100million quoted for the striker, who was among the top scorers in the Premier League last season.
Both the Gunners and the Blues have experienced problems in the final third. Chelsea have lacked a prolific goalscorer for several years whilst Arsenal, who harbour hopes of a title triumph, do not have a centre forward who can be relied upon to continue firing, which is underlined by the numbers.
Mikel Arteta recently said when quizzed on the need for a striker: “Every manager would want a player that can score 50 goals guaranteed every season. But if you don’t have it, it means as well that they have other qualities that empower the qualities of the players next to them. That is really important as well."
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