Chelsea step up Ivan Toney transfer pursuit as Brentford demand £80m: report

WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 10: Ivan Toney of Brentford gestures during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brentford FC at Molineux on February 10, 2024 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has urged the club to 'move heaven and earth' to complete a deal for Ivan Toney.

The Brentford and England striker has been linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge for some time, and such speculation has only intensified following his recent return from an eight-month ban for gambling offences.

Now, Pochettino appears to be pushing for the Blues to go out and get the 27-year-old – who has scored four goals in five appearances since stepping back onto the pitch.

BRENTFORD, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 17: Ivan Toney of Brentford scores his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC at Gtech Community Stadium on February 17, 2024 in Brentford, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Toney scored in Brentford's 4-1 home defeat to Liverpool on Saturday (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Sun claim they have been told that Pochettino "believes Toney can transform his team" and help turn Chelsea into "genuine title contenders" once more.

After the thoroughly underwhelming re-signing of Romelu Lukaku, the Blues continued to struggle for goals last season – and things haven't improved sufficiently in that department this term.

Forwards Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson arrived for £52m and £32m respectively back in the summer – but while Nkunku has looked encouraging since his injury-delayed debut in December, he is not an out-and-out number nine, and Jackson has found the net only seven times in 21 Premier League outings.

ROME, ITALY - JANUARY 20: Romelu Lukaku of AS Roma during the Serie A TIM match between AS Roma and Hellas Verona FC - Serie A TIM at Stadio Olimpico on January 20, 2024 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Ivan Romano/Getty Images)

Romelu Lukaku is currently on loan at Roma and seems likely to leave Chelsea permanently this summer (Image credit: Getty Images)

Toney could well be the solution to Chelsea's attacking woes, but the former Newcastle youngster won't come cheap.

Brentford are thought to be demanding upwards of £80m for the player they signed for an initial £5m from League One Peterborough United in the summer of 2020.

Only four times in their history have Chelsea paid a transfer fee worth more than that – although all of those have been in the last two-and-a-half years.

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Tom Hancock

Tom Hancock started freelancing for FourFourTwo in April 2019 and has also written for the Premier League and Opta Analyst, among others. He supports Wycombe Wanderers and has a soft spot for Wealdstone. A self-confessed statto, he has been known to watch football with a spreadsheet (or several) open...