Ivan Toney may have failed the audition if the match between Arsenal and Brentford on Saturday night was a chance for him to show off his skills.
It seemed inevitable that he would finish up at the Emirates after being linked to the Gunners so frequently in recent months. Thomas Frank has already hinted that he may depart in the summer, and Toney has acknowledged that he enjoyed Arsenal as a child. The Gunners need a striker.
Doesn’t it seem like the ideal fit? Maybe not. Even though Frank gave him the captain’s armband, Toney’s behavior since getting back on the field in January has been questionable, indicating that a larger club may be where his future is.
Not that the striker is lying. Although he should be playing for a better team, it was questionable for him to confess such a thing after being suspended from betting for several months. Toney needed to let his football speak for itself, and the fact that he hasn’t scored a goal in his last four games may indicate he isn’t quite ready for prime time yet.
It must be noted, however, that the 27-year-old did find the net on four occasions in his first five games back.
Ivan Toney’s performance in numbers vs Arsenal
Toney did not find the net against the Gunners but to his credit, not many strikers have in recent games.
Indeed, the Gunners have conceded an xG against them of just 4.9 in all competitions since 2024 began.
It should therefore not be shocking to learn that Toney only recorded 0.01 xG versus Arsenal on Saturday.
It will never be the easiest litmus test to audition for your big move against Mikel Arteta’s troops. Having stated that, William Saliba and Gabriel harassed him.
Sadly, Toney won only nine of his sixteen duels, finished only thirty percent of his passes, and gave up the ball twenty-three times. It’s fair to assume that the striker didn’t have the best day at work.
It would be harsh to judge him only on that performance, but you would want to see more from a player who is rumored to be worth around £80 million.
Arsenal’s substitutes for Ivan Toney
January was dominated by headlines saying that Arsenal should do their hardest to sign a new striker either in the summer or in January. There was a compelling reason to support that claim following a stretch of games during which Arteta’s team had only scored once in three games during the New Year period.
However, they have been nothing short of exceptional since that moment, crashing home 33 goals in their last eight domestic encounters.
They have largely done that without their star centre forward Gabriel Jesus either. Instead, Kai Havertz, scorer of the winner against Brentford has finally stepped up.
The £65 million summer acquisition, the German, has shown his mettle by scoring in each of his past four games and dishing out two assists.
It’s unlikely the former Chelsea midfielder will ever be a prolific 20-goal-a-season man that you seemingly need to win a league title but it does bode well. Perhaps Arsenal don’t need to spend quite as much on a striker as they thought.
They could even turn their hand to a youngster in the Hale End academy. It looks as though they could be brewing another Folarin Balogun, a prolific figure out on loan last season.
The American international scored 22 goals while on loan at Stade Reims in 2022–2023 before Edu and company made a £25.7 million profit.
Mika Biereth is the next loan star to shine brightly outside of the team. Even though he’s not quite playing at the same level as Balogun in front of goal, he still beats the goalie a lot.
