Paying £100m for Toney 'would be thick' says Arsenal and Chelsea legend

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 18 Jan 2024 10:45 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal and Chelsea are interested in Ivan Toney, but William Gallas, who starred for both London clubs, thinks they would be mad to match Brentford's asking price.

Arsenal and Chelsea are both in the market for a new No.9 this winter, and Toney has crept to the top of both London clubs' shopping lists.

Both clubs' top scorers are midfielders - Bukayo Saka with six goals for Arsenal and Cole Palmer nine for Chelsea - making the need for a top-level striker quite pronounced.

Toney hit 20 goals in 33 Premier League games for Brentford last season but has only recently returned following an eight-month ban for gambling offences.

Brentford had been tipped to sell in January, but with Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations and the Bees in a relegation dogfight, Toney's asking price has climbed exponentially.

Gallas: 'Some clubs are thick'

"How much would Arsenal or Chelsea pay for him? Some clubs are thick," Gallas told Gambling Zone. "They don't realise that there's too much money in football so they'll pay £100m for Toney.

"That means the player has to be an international player. He has hardly played for England. How can you explain to me that his price is £100m?

"If you buy a player for £100m, he has to be a young player. Spending £100m on a 27-year-old is too much. Either you spend £100m on an international player or a young player that a team can invest in for the long-term."

Toney won his sole England cap last March, replacing Harry Kane for the final 10 minutes of a 2-0 win over Ukraine in Euro '24 qualifying.

He is valued at €25.7 million (£22m) by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm.

Former club Peterborough would be delighted with a £100m move - they stand to gain 30 per cent of any transfer fee having sold him to Brentford for just £5m up front in August 2020.