The big winners of Toney to Arsenal will be Man Utd

Tom Weber

• Updated: 8 Feb 2024 11:01 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United and Brian Brobbey will be the big beneficiaries of Ivan Toney's potential move to Arsenal.

The Brentford star is once again in the headlines, but this time it is not because of something he said. While the Bees' star man has not been shy about admitting that he wants to play for a 'top club,' the biggest bombshell on his future has actually been dropped by his coach.

Thomas Frank has revealed that “Ivan Toney will most likely be sold in the summer,” while speaking to Tipsbladet. “He’ll only have a year left on his contract with us, so it’s quite obvious. This winter, we actually had no bids for him.”

The clear favourites to sign Toney in the summer will be Arsenal. Admittedly, you can never count out free-spending Chelsea, who are also keen on the Brentford man, but they will surely be preoccupied with trying to sign their priority target Victor Osimhen.

Man Utd are also among the sides with an interest in the 27-year-old, but the current state of the club makes it difficult to imagine them beating the Gunners to his signature if push comes to shove. Nevertheless, the Red Devils could actually stand to benefit from Toney signing for Arsenal.

Man Utd's better alternative

The Athletic reported in January that Ajax star Brian Brobbey is among Man Utd's top striker options alongside Toney. Indeed, head coach Erik ten Hag had already wanted to sign his former protégé last month, but the striker quickly put to bed any rumours, snubbing the club for the second time since 2022.

Despite this, Man Utd are expected to be in the mix for the Dutchman again, which is only natural given that he has been in spectacular form in the Eredivisie this term. Brobbey has notched 13 goals and five assists in 19 league games so far. In fact, his recent outing against table-topping PSV was the first time in six games that the 22-year-old failed to score - but he did manage an assist!

Crucially, Brobbey admitted in 2022 that Man Utd are his 'dream club,' so it will be difficult for him to reject their approaches for a third time, especially given that there is a growing expectation that he will be sold in the summer. Signing Brobbey over Toney could be a shrewd decision on the part of the Red Devils.

While there are some concerns about Brobbey, such as his proclivity to miss big chances in Darwin Nunez fashion and the fact that he struggled for game time during a short stint in the Bundesliga, data experts SciSports nevertheless believe that the Dutchman could become a better player than Toney.

Due to his months-long gambling ban, Toney has seen his overall ability decrease in recent times according to the SciSports algorithm. This means that Toney's current level is lower than the one Brobbey could yet reach, after all, he is still only 22.

Moreover, Brobbey may also be cheaper despite his youth and significant upside. Regarding Toney, there has been talk of transfer fees in the region of €80 million to as high as over €100m. Brobbey definitely won't come cheap and Ajax may feel confident that they can rip off Ten Hag and company again - as they did with the €95m Antony deal in 2022 - but the Dutchman likely won't command more than €80m.