Chelsea move for big-money star to be 'successful' despite Saudi Pro League links

Chelsea are reportedly once again in the mix to sign Brentford’s Ivan Toney despite the latter’s strong links with a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli.

Toney’s Gtech Community Stadium exit has been highly anticipated this summer and the striker has missed both the Bees’ opening Premier League fixtures against Crystal Palace and Liverpool amid the ongoing transfer speculation.

A confirmed move has been yet to materialise and, while it was most recently reported that the England international was ‘set to join’ Al-Ahli, the latest update to the story adds a fresh twist, indicating that Chelsea - who have been long term admirers of the 28-year-old - have ‘made a move’ to sign the star.

Al-Ahli already had a £35m offer rejected by Thomas Frank’s side, thus indicating that whatever bids have since arrived from either the Saudi club or Stamford Bridge side must exceed such a figure.

Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to write: “Chelsea have made a move to sign Ivan Toney from Brentford. They want a proven goalscorer to be their new No. 9. He will fit into their wage structure and transfer fee will be reasonable. Toney has incredible offer from Saudi but Chelsea can offer Premier League football.”

Solhekol’s report also adds that he believes the move for Toney will be successful. “(Chelsea) have made this move for Ivan Toney and I think there is pretty good chance that the move will be successful”, he noted.

"The reason they are going for Toney is his incredible goalscoring record. Every level he has played at, he has scored. I think if you speak to a lot of Chelsea supporters, I think they would say it's great to buy all of these young players, but what we want is a No. 9. “It's evident that's what they were missing - especially in the first game of the season against Manchester City, because Manchester City had Erling Haaland. I think they need more of a presence. They need somebody with a bit of an aura about them and I think Ivan Toney certainly fits the bill.”

The Blues already have a 42-man squad but that is apparently not deterring them from going after yet another big-money star who had been valued at £70m earlier this transfer season. The club are still after a goal-scoring ace and had been linked with a move for yet another Saudi transfer target, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, but Sky Sports’ indications have insinuated that the Englishman would be a better financial fit for the SW6 club.

Toney is currently into the last year of his contract with the Bees risking losing their most valuable asset on a free transfer next summer if a deal is not secured within the next few days or January.