‘Not the quickest’… TalkSPORT pundit says he’s a huge fan of £60m Chelsea target despite a lack of pace

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Despite Nicolas Jackson’s best efforts as the main Chelsea striker this season, there’s still plenty of speculation in the transfer rumour mill about the Blues signing a new attacker in the summer.

Blues fans continue to wish for a repeat of the seasons they had Diego Costa or Didier Drogba leading the line. Instead, the No 9 position has got a bad reputation at Stamford Bridge in recent years.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side are now linked with a Premier League striker who’s got an eye-catching CV.

So, could Chelsea finally find the heir to Drogba’s throne?

Chelsea interested in £60m forward

Brentford striker Ivan Toney, who turned 28 this month, is allegedly on the Blues radar.

The Mirror claimed this month that Brentford may lower Toney’s asking price this summer to roughly £60 million amid interest from London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal.

Toney’s worked his way up the football ladder to score goals in the top four leagues in the English pyramid.

Here are his career goals in each of the four divisions:

• 36 goals in 76 games in the Premier League (Brentford and Newcastle United)
• 31 goals in 45 games in the Championship (Brentford)
• 65 goals in 165 games in League One (Peterborough United, Scunthorpe United, Wigan Athletic, Shrewsbury Town, Barnsley)
• 11 goals in 55 games in League Two (Northampton Town)

Ivan Toney not the quickest

TalkSPORT pundit Andy Townsend has been speaking about Brentford’s Toney and his chances of going to Euro 2024 with England this summer.

He’s explained that he massively rates the 28-year-old central striker despite a slight lack of pace. The frontman drops deep at times to knit play together, similar to Harry Kane.

“I think he’s very good at that (linking up the play). He does that for his club very naturally, he’s not the quickest,” Townsnd told talkSPORT.

“I just think Ivan Toney’s got that little bit of an advantage when it comes to getting hold of the ball, dripping 10 yards deeper and having people run beyond him. I think he’s particularly good at linking with those sort of players.”

For what it’s worth, we don’t think Toney’s slow and his acceleration his decent when he’s on the shoulder of a defender. He possesses a very well balanced game and set of skills, though.