According to Dean Jones, transfer insider, Chelsea is keeping tabs on Brentford’s Ivan Toney for a potential move to Stamford Bridge. Regardless of who will take over as manager in the summer, the Blues need attacking reinforcements as the futures of Romelu Lukaku and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang remain uncertain. The Premier League giants have identified the Bees forward, who is currently under contract until 2025 and has a match rating of 7.27 for being Thomas Frank’s best-performing player this season, as a possible target.
Last August, Manchester United and Everton were also mentioned by The Mirror as having joined the race to sign the 27-year-old forward. After Toney’s debut for England at the Euro 2024 qualifiers, the Chelsea scouts believe he would be a good fit with the other attacking options currently available to them. Although Brentford will not let him go without a fight, there is no denying that Toney is a natural center-forward with confidence in his own ability.
Previously, Ollie Watkins brought in £33m when he left Brentford to join Aston Villa. Therefore, Toney’s value is easily estimated at £50m since he has eclipsed anything he had achieved previously. Despite him not being as high-profile as some of the other big names like Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic, Toney should be Chelsea’s top priority to sign this summer.
Toney has accumulated 87 goal contributions (66 goals and 21 assists) in his 120 appearances for Brentford, making him the third-highest scorer in the top-flight this season, just behind Harry Kane and Erling Haaland. He has also registered 81 shots since the beginning of the season, which is higher than any of his fellow teammates. These collective form and effort saw Bees reporter Billy Grant dubbing Toney “a monster.” Inevitably, nothing should prevent Chelsea from securing his services at the end of the season, even if it means handing Brentford £50m.
