Despite speculation hotting up about Ivan Toney and a potential transfer to Arsenal this January, Fabrizio Romano insists it’s still too early to rule out Chelsea swooping for the Brentford striker.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for today’s edition of his Daily Briefing column, Romano provided his take on the situation surrounding Toney, with the England international attracting a lot of attention ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.
Having impressed at Brentford, Toney looks ideal to help Arsenal add more of a clinical edge to their attack as they chase the Premier League title, with some concerns perhaps that Gabriel Jesus is a little injury prone and not quite a 20-plus-goals-a-season player anyway, while Eddie Nketiah hasn’t been an entirely convincing backup.
Still, the Gunners aren’t necessarily in pole position for Toney, with Romano insisting that Chelsea still haven’t fully decided their plans yet, so it would be unwise to rule the Blues out of the race for the 27-year-old at this stage.
“There have been reports of Arsenal now being ahead of Chelsea in the race for Ivan Toney, but I’m not ruling any club out at this stage, it’s too early, there’s no decision on any side now,” Romano said.
“Chelsea are taking their time to decide on the strikers situation, so unfortunately now there’s still no clear decision or update. But I’m not ruling any club out for Toney.”
Chelsea also need to strengthen up front this January after a difficult start made by young Senegalese striker Nicolas Jackson, so it will be intriguing to see how this saga develops in the coming days and weeks.