Arsenal ‘in talks’ with statement £80m signing as they hope to dethrone Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal took a huge early stride in the title race by beating the reigning champions Manchester City 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

The victory marks Arteta’s first league win over Pep Guardiola since leaving his role as assistant coach to the Spaniard back in 2019.  It is also Arsenal’s first league triumph over Man City in the post Arsene Wenger era and the victory offers The Gunners a huge psychological boost heading into the second international break.

The North London giants are without a league title since their invincible season 20 years ago and Arteta is determined to end that drought this season after a huge summer of investment which saw the arrivals of David Raya, Jurrien Timber, Declan Rice and Kai Havertz. Arsenal were one of the biggest spenders in the division during the summer but Arteta is still determined to fill the one missing piece of his title jigsaw by signing a clinical centre forward.

One key target on the radar, according to reports from TeamTalk is Brentford striker Ivan Toney and exclusive reports from the outlet claim that Arsenal has already started talks with Thomas Frank’s side ahead of a potential move in January. Chelsea are also keen to land the striker and Mauricio Pochettino has also been given the green light to pursue the striker as he looks to fire his team back into the European places.

Despite reports of interest from Chelsea, it is believed that Arsenal are the frontrunners to sign the England international. The 27-year-old is a huge fan of Arsenal’s current side and told Dragon’s Den investor Steven Bartlett that they are a club he admires during an episode of Diary Of A Ceo.

Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz have all taken up the striker role this season but have only got four goals between them. While Toney is viewed as a proven Premier League goalscorer after a tremendous campaign last season where he scored 20 goals in 33 appearances for Brentford.

Brentford are believed to have already started contingency plans for the forwards potential departure and Thomas Frank told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football that the in-demand striker could be sold in January.

He said: “I think every club in the world is a selling club except five or six clubs. We are a selling club if the price is right there and I think its the right time for the players to go. That’s not my decision, that would be down to (director of football) Phil (Giles) or (chairman) Matthew (Benham) in the end.”

Reports from The Times claim that Toney would cost Arsenal around £80m but the price could be pushed up further if they are to get in a bidding war with other teams for the forward. Toney is currently suspended from playing in the Premier League due to gambling offences but will return to first team action in January 2024. He has huge ambitions of making the England squad in time for Euro 2024.