Arteta told to ‘try really hard’ to sign Ivan Toney despite ban; Arsenal’s ‘perfect’ striker revealed

Arsenal hero Ray Parlour thinks Arsenal need to sign a new striker and has urged Mikel Arteta to bring in Brenford’s Ivan Toney.

Toney has scored an impressive 20 goals in the Premier League this season with the Bees in contention for European qualification going into the final day of the season.

The campaign has ended on a very sour note for the England striker, who has been handed an eight-month suspension for breaking the Football Association’s betting rules.

This has all but ruled out a summer exit, but former Arsenal midfielder Parlour still thinks Arteta should try to sign him with the addition of a new No. 9 ‘vitally’ important.

“I also think a new centre-forward is vital for Arsenal next season, I really do,” Parlour told NetBet. “A player who I’ve always said would do well at Arsenal is Ivan Toney.

“Whether Arsenal can get him given his ban is another matter, but I would be trying really hard to see if there was any chance of a deal there [whether that means joining in January].

“He’s really impressed me for Brentford – his work rate and he’s always in the right place to nick a goal.”

Toney probably would have been in contention for a move to one of the so-called big six in the summer if he was not banned from all football-related activities until January 2024.

Arsenal have never really been strongly linked with him, but the 27-year-old is a fantastic all-round striker who would walk into nearly every team in the Premier League.

A striker the Gunners have been linked with over the last year or so is Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, who Parlour thinks would be “perfect” in Arteta’s side.

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Martinez has scored 25 goals and provided 10 assists in 53 matches across all competitions this term and has helped the Nerazzurri reach the final of the Champions League.

Football Insider recently reported that Martinez ‘wants to move to the Premier League’ and would cost at least £69.5million.

Despite the signing of Gabriel Jesus last year, the Argentine World Cup winner should be a top target for Arteta, Parlour reckons.

“Bringing in Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan would also be perfect, he’s the sort of striker Arsenal need to sign,” he added.

“I know Gabriel Jesus has been excellent this season, he had that long spell out injured, but he needs to score a few more goals for Arsenal.

“Eddie Nketiah has done well when he’s been asked, but you need that competition up front for places.

“We played with four top strikers in the Invincibles team – Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, Kanu and Sylvain Wiltord. We even had Francis Jeffers a little before that, so we had five strikers! So Arsenal definitely need another striker.

“Any player in the mould of Lautaro Martinez, if he’s interested in coming to Arsenal, then Edu will be working to do the best deal for the club.”

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