Arsenal want a new striker this summer and are looking at other targets after missing out on RB Leipzig star Benjamin Sesko.
The Gunners were ready to pay £55 million for the Slovenia international and will hope to find a similar striker with a similar value in the market.
Arsenal will be keeping an eye on the European Championship for hidden gems, but they may have received an unlikely boost from their club-record signing Declan Rice.
The England international midfielder has become best friends with Brentford striker Ivan Toney at the Three Lions camp, insisting he would pick the long-term Arsenal target if he had to choose one to spend a year with on a desert island.
“It’s an easy answer, the man next to me,” Rice said on the FA show Lions’ Den yesterday when asked the question.
“We’re on the same wavelength, we have the same interests, the same music. We like the same hobbies. We just get on really well, so definitely Ivan.
When I was at West Ham, he used to banter me on the pitch all the time.
“The way we are, how he is, it’s the same type that I like to be. It’s easy.”
The 28-year-old is expected to leave Brentford this summer, and a move to Arsenal would appeal to him.
Toney and Rice have already developed a strong relationship off the pitch, and playing together at club level could be perfect.
While the England international striker only bagged four goals in 17 games last term, his return of 20 goals in 33 games in 2022-23 was enough to convince Gareth Southgate to include him in his final 26-man squad for Euro 2024.
While the rumours linking him with Arsenal have since cooled off, Toney remains a striker capable of improving the Gunners in the final third as he would offer them a different option in attack, and he could be available for a decent fee as he has just a year left on his current contract with the Bees.
