As things stand, Riccardo Calafiori is the only new addition to the first team and in the face of a juggernaut such as Manchester City, more might be needed, especially as the Gunners ended last season with five goals fewer than the Sky Blues.
Calafiori-Arsenal
Fortunately, recent reports have linked the club to an experienced striker who'd surely bring bags of goals to the Emirates and help make Martin Odegaard unplayable in the process.
Arsenal's striker search
According to a recent report from Caught Offside, Arsenal have maintained their interest in Brentford striker Ivan Toney despite being put off by his high asking price earlier in the window.
Ivan-toney-england
Alongside the Gunners, the report claims that Chelsea are still keen on the Englishman, while Al Ahli are prepared to make an offer in the region of £30m for his services.
If the Bees were willing to accept offers in and around this fee, then that could tempt the North Londoners to act on their lingering interest with one of their own, as it would be substantially lower than the £100m figure banded around in January and the £50m fee reported earlier this summer.
Ivan-Toney-Aston-Villa-Premier-League
It would still require a sizeable investment from Arsenal, but given Toney's record in the Premier League and the potential partnership he could form with Odegaard, it would be worth making.
Why Toney would be an ideal signing for Odegaard
So, to cut straight to the chase, there is one key reason why Toney would be an excellent teammate for Odegaard, and that's his impressive output.
Brentford striker Ivan Toney
For example, in his 83 Premier League appearances for Brentford, he has scored 36 goals and provided 11 assists, meaning he's averaged a goal involvement every 1.76 games since winning promotion three years ago.
Moreover, that impressive average includes last season, in which he returned to the fray in January after being banned from all footballing activities for eight months due to his betting breaches.
Ivan Toney's PL record with Brentford
Season
2021/22
2022/23
2023/24
Appearances
33
33
17
Goals
12
20
4
Assists
5
4
2
Goal Involvements per Match
0.51
0.72
0.35
All Stats via Transfermarkt
So, if you just look at his two uninterrupted campaigns in the top flight, he scored 32 goals and provided nine assists in 66 games, equating to an even more impressive average of a goal involvement every 1.69 games.
Now imagine a player as clinical as the 28-year-old "monster", as manager Thomas Frank dubbed him, playing in a team with a creator as gifted as the Arsenal captain; he'd see his goal tally explode.
Moreover, the Norwegian would see his assist count shoot up as well and, based on Understat's data, we already know that he underperformed his expected assists figure by 1.58 in the league last year, suggesting that with a better finisher in the squad he'd be able to have more of an impact.
Ultimately, while Toney potentially isn't the most exciting name on the market at the moment, he has proven himself in the Premier League over the last three years, and with Arsenal coming so close last year, his ability to find the back of the net could be the final piece of the puzzle.
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Therefore, Edu Gaspar and Co should do what they can and bring him to the Emirates this summer.
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