Mikel Arteta’s plan to convince Ivan Toney he must join Arsenal in January

Mikel Arteta has devised a plan to convince Brentford striker Ivan Toney to join Arsenal in January.

Toney is half-way through an eight-month ban issued to him by the FA for betting offences. He hasn't played since mid-May, but will be allowed to return to action on January 17 next year – making a mid-season exit highly-possible.

Arsenal are keen to sign an out-and-out goalscorer and are preparing to make a serious play for Toney. But they're likely to face stiff competition from Chelsea and Tottenham, both of whom are also on the hunt for a centre forward.

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In any case, Arteta is confident he can lure the 27-year-old to the Emirates by pointing to the club's recent success, their ambition and their plans for him in the first-team. Their sales pitch managed to convince Declan Rice to join them over Manchester City in the summer and Arteta believes it can work again on Toney.

The Mirror say the Gunners admire his physical presence and impressive goal record and see him as the ideal man to lead their line and synch up with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah have had reasonably-successful spells up front in Arteta's team, but the Spaniard doesn't think either of them are capable of producing the sorts of numbers Toney can produce.

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Brentford are expected to demand around £60million for the England international, who will have just 18-months left on his contract in January. Arsenal already have a good relationship with the Bees, having swiftly negotiated a deal for David Raya last month which included an agreement to initially loan the goalkeeper to help the Gunners on the Financial Fair Play (FFP) front.

That said, Arsenal have raised just £77m through player sales in the last two years, while forking out £368m on arrivals in the same period, so they'll be keen to avoid a bidding war in January. As such, they'll need to make their sales pitch as strong as possible should they face any competition from Premier League rivals.

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Toney has scored 68 goals in 124 games for Brentford. He joined them from Peterborough United in 2020, having previously played for Newcastle and Northampton Town. He made his one and only England appearance in March earlier this year against Ukraine, shortly after admitting to over 200 breaches of FA betting regulations.

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