Arsenal told that in-form Premier League star would be ideal transfer target to replace key figure

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Arsenal have been told that Brentford striker Ivan Toney could be an ideal transfer target for the club this summer.

That’s the view of BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks, who named the in-form Toney in his Premier League team of the week after another fine performance from him this weekend.

Toney looks a fine talent after scoring 11 goals in 24 games in his first season in the top flight, and one imagines he’d fare even better with superior team-mates around him.

The 25-year-old looks like he could fit in well at Arsenal, even if he’s not exactly the big name that many of the club’s fans will be craving this summer.

Crooks is a big fan of his, however, and pointed to Ollie Watkins at Aston Villa as an example of a player who can make the step up to becoming a top flight player even after plenty of years spent playing in the Championship.

Crooks said: “I caused a bit of a stir on Final Score and my colleagues Dion Dublin and Jason Mohammed raised eyebrows when I suggested that Ivan Toney would make a good fit for Arsenal next season.

“I think they were slightly taken aback because they thought I might know something or have an inside track but my comments were purely speculative. After all Ollie Watkins, a former Brentford striker, has made the transition at Aston Villa.

Ivan Toney celebrates a goal for Brentford

“Toney would be an ideal replacement if Alexandre Lacazette, for example, were to leave the Gunners in the summer. Unlike Watkins when he transferred to Villa, Toney is already scoring goals in the Premier league and plenty of them – he has no transition to make.

“As for Brentford, if Arsenal do come knocking, the west London club may have no choice but to accept the money. Brentford have a habit of selling when a player is hot.”

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