Tottenham are poised to beat Arsenal to the signing of a nine-figure superstar – who's upset Arsenal fans in the past.
Ange Postecoglou has enjoyed a positive first season so far at the helm in north London and is the only manager of the top six to have taken points at the Emirates Stadium. Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United all lost, with Chelsea yet to come.
But Spurs can get one over on their bitter neighbours by beating them to a major transfer coup – of a player who's already endeared himself to the Lilywhites faithful.
Arsenal had been heavily linked with Ivan Toney as the club look to bolster their striker options in the summer, but according to The Sun, Tottenham are now ahead of the Gunners in the race to land the 28-year-old.
The report claims that Arsenal are cooling their interest in Toney, while another suitor in Chelsea know they must sell players before bringing anyone in, otherwise, they risk falling foul of the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules. West Ham are also said to be interested.
Should Spurs pip their bitter rivals to the striker’s signature, then Toney’s history of winding up Arsenal could well go up a notch.
Brentford beat the Gunners 2-0 in the club’s first-ever Premier League match in 2021, with Toney following the victory up with a cheeky post-match tweet, posting: ‘Nice kick about with the boys.’
As well as drawing the ire of Arsenal fans online, the comment was also picked up by Mikel Arteta, who used the tweet as motivation to avenge the defeat during his team talk before the return fixture, as seen in Amazon's All Or Nothing documentary.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has already admitted that Toney is likely to leave the club this summer, with the Bees reportedly holding out for a £100million fee.
More Tottenham stories
Tottenham Hotspur in discussions with world-class midfielder over huge signing of intent: report
‘Signing for Tottenham was one of the best days of my life’: Guglielmo Vicario on move to Spurs
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou: It’s hard to get recruitment wrong at Spurs
