Arteta tipped to brutally sacrifice three Arsenal stars to fund January deal for £75m striker target
Arsenal will need to sell several fringe players to fund a January move for Brentford centre-forward Ivan Toney, according to reports.
Mikel Arteta has made some impressive signings this season, bringing in Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and David Raya.
Many pundits have recently cast doubt over whether Arsenal have a prolific enough goal scorer to compete with Manchester City for the Premier League title.
As a result, Arteta is thought to be looking at strikers he could potentially bring in in January, and Toney is right at the top of his transfer shortlist.
As previously reported by TEAMtalk, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea have all registered an interest in the England international, so we could see a bidding war take place for him this winter.
Toney is currently suspended after being found guilty of breaching the FA’s gambling regulations but will be available to play again in mid-January.
There is no doubt that he is a quality player, though. Toney scored an impressive 20 goals in the Premier League last season, trailing only Harry Kane and Erling Haaland in the scoring charts.
Brentford will not let their star man leave on the cheap, though, and reports suggest that they will demand a fee in the region of £75m for him.
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Arsenal tipped to sell three players to fund Toney move
As mentioned, though, Arsenal may need to sell several players before making a big-money move for Toney in January due to the Premier League’s Financial Fair Play rules.
Now, Football.London has identified three players that Arteta could part ways with to fund a deal for the Brentford star.
The first is Reiss Nelson. The winger is yet to start a Premier League match this season and is well behind the likes of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in the pecking order.
The 23-year-old signed a new contract in July which is valid until 2027, but he has been linked with moves away from the Emirates for some time. Therefore, it wouldn’t be a major shock to see him depart in January.
Another player tipped to be sold by Arsenal is Emile Smith Rowe. He made his first start this season against Brentford in the Carabao Cup.
Smith Rowe has been unable to nail down a spot in the starting XI after a year of injury struggles. He was also linked with Chelsea in the summer transfer window.
His contract is valid until 2026, and the report states Arsenal could ‘demand a significant figure’ for his services in January.
The third player who could also be sold to fund a move for Toney is Eddie Nketiah. Arteta has utilised the striker often since he became the Arsenal manager, but it has been suggested that he could be used as part of a player-plus-cash deal for the Brentford star.
Bringing in Toney would also make Nketiah the Gunner’s third-choice striker, so again, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him leave if Arsenal did sign him.
With that in mind, we could see the trio depart in January to fund a big-money move for Toney, as Football.London’s report suggests.
