Chelsea look set to miss out on signing Brentford striker Ivan Toney this month.
Chelsea have been heavily linked with a move for Ivan Toney, with football.london reporting back in November that the club were strongly considering making a big-money offer for the 27-year-old.
However, in a chat with former team-mate Pontus Jansson, which was shared by Brentford’s official X account, Toney stated that he would be staying at the Gtech Community Stadium.
It would have cost Chelsea a fortune to sign Toney during this transfer window.
According to Sky Sports, Brentford value their talisman at £100m.
Ivan Toney staying at Brentford
Despite interest from Chelsea, it does not look like Toney is going anywhere this month.
In a video call with Jansson, the England international said: “Yeah, I’m staying, I’m staying. Yeah, it will be good. I can’t wait to get back, man.”
Chelsea will have to wait until the summer to sign a top striker
It is quite clear that Chelsea are going to have to wait until the end of the season to sign an elite centre-forward.
Toney has made himself unavailable, while Napoli’s Victor Osimhen is another No.9 who is unlikely to move this month.
Chelsea are unwilling to spend £120m on the Nigeria international during this transfer window, according to The Telegraph.
With Toney and Osimhen both off the table, you cannot really think of too many other proven strikers the Blues could move for in January.
It means they may have to go for a more short-term and less experienced option, with journalist Nathan Gissing claiming that the club are currently weighing up a swoop for Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran.
A 20-year-old like Duran is not going to solve all of Chelsea’s problems, but he is obviously more attainable than the likes of Toney and Osimhen.
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