Tottenham urged to sign £100m striker in January by former favourite after missed chances in defeat against Aston Villa

Ivan Toney in action for Brentford against Nottingham Forest in April 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Former Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon has urged the club to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney in January after watching Spurs squander a host of chances in Sunday's 2-1 loss at home to Aston Villa.

Ange Postecoglou's side took the lead at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium through Giovani Lo Celso, but Villa equalised deep in added time at the end of the first half through Pau Torres and Unai Emery's men went on to take victory after a second-half strike from Ollie Watkins.

Tottenham created enough chances to have won the game but saw opportunities come and go on a disappointing afternoon in north London.

"This game should have been out of sight," former Tottenham favourite Lennon wrote on X (formerly Twitter) during the match.

"Spurs playing some lovely stuff first half, just need to be more ruthless in front of goal. Villa can’t play any worse than that."

And after the match, he followed up with another post as he wrote: "Knew Villa couldn’t play any worse. [Youri] Tielemans was very good when he came on, got them playing and calmed the game down.

"A lot of positives for Spurs in the performance especially with all the injuries out. But need a striker to finish these chances."

And he finished his post by adding, alongside three eye emojis: "Ivan Toney in January."

Toney is currently serving a ban from the Premier League for breaches of the competition's betting regulations, with the England striker set to return to action for Brentford in January.

However, the 27-year-old's future at the west London club is up in the air after links with Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs in recent months.

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Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.