Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has urged the Gunners to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney in the summer. It comes as Mikel Arteta is on the lookout for two strikers at the end of the season.
After an impressive campaign so far, the Spaniard will be keen to add to his squad, with duo Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah set to leave as free agents. This leaves academy graduate Folarin Balogun as the only natural centre-forward at the club.
Arteta has already spoken out about their need for a goal scorer, saying back in March: “Now is the moment we have to raise the quality. We need one who puts the ball in the net, that’s priority number one. Any successful team needs enough goal threat in the squad.”
Since then, a whole raft of players have been linked with a move to the Emirates. The likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Darwin Nunez, Alexander Isak and Jonathan David are all reportedly transfer targets.
The latest to join those names is Manchester City star, Gabriel Jesus. His four-goal haul last time out against Watford showed what he is capable of, though he gave away no indication of where his future may lie after the campaign ends.
Parlour believes Arsenal should go for Brentford’s Ivan Toney despite the rumours swirling around for the Brazilian. Speaking to TalkSPORT, he said: “The strikers they’ll be looking at, they’ll also be looking at the other clubs interested in those strikers.
You don’t want to be getting into bidding wars. How many clubs will be after Toney, if he’s available? That’s the sort of striker I would be trying to get at Arsenal.”
The 26-year-old has enjoyed an impressive debut season in the top flight with the Bees, scoring 12 goals and assisting four so far. With his poaching abilities on full display over the past two seasons, he could increase that tally at a side like Arsenal.
It remains to be seen exactly who the Gunners will sign this summer, but the forward roles are clearly a priority heading into the closing stages of the season.
