Arsenal may be tempted to revisit their interest in Ferran Torres in the January transfer window after the Barcelona forward reportedly fell out with Xavi.
The Gunners are keen to add a striker to their squad if possible and Mirror Football understands that Mikel Arteta has made Ivan Toney his number one transfer target. Toney is keen to leave Brentford in January once he has served his eight-month ban for breaching FA rules on gambling.
Brentford are open to selling, but only at the right price and they have slapped a £60million asking price on his head following interest from Arsenal. Toney’s contract expires in June 2025 and the club are confident of driving a hard bargain in the New Year, despite his apparent desire to join the north London club.
Arsenal might have to look elsewhere as they search for a striker to add to their squad alongside Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah. They were linked with Torres over the summer, but the former Manchester City man ended up staying up in Catalonia.
But Arsenal may be encouraged by reports from AS, who claim that Torres is considering his options after growing annoyed with a lack of game time from Xavi. The Barcelona boss has stuck with Robert Lewandowski up front, with Torres appearing more often as a substitute.
The 23-year-old has five goals and two assists in 19 appearances, but has started just seven times in La Liga so far this season and has often been used on the left wing, rather than up front. His representatives are reportedly not close with Xavi and the arrival of Vitor Roque from Athletico Paranaense in January in a €40m (£34.3m) deal will push Torres further down the pecking order.
He is still under contract with Barca until June 2027, but the club may be willing to cut their losses given their struggles with financial fair play rules in the past. The Spain international has only contributed 19 goals and 11 assists in 90 games since joining from Manchester City in a €55m (£45m) deal in December 2021.
If they are willing to pay the asking price Arsenal can secure Toney, who has scored 68 goals in 124 games for Brentford since his transfer from Peterborough in September 2020. Brentford manager Thomas Frank said on Sky Sports earlier in the season: “I think every club in the world are a selling club except five or six clubs. We are a selling club, if the right price is there.
“He scored 20 goals in the Premier League last year, in, of course, a very good Brentford side but of course we are not creating as many chances as the top six or seven teams. So imagine him in a top team, he’d easily score 20, 25 goals, for me. I think he’s composed, he’s a good finisher, top mentality, so I understand why clubs are looking at him.”