Tottenham keen on signing 'exciting' English striker to finally replace Harry Kane in the summer

Tottenham have jumped ahead of Arsenal in the race to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney in the summer according to LondonWorld’s sources.

Arsenal were strongly linked to the then suspended Toney in Janaury, but the form of Kai Havertz has turned heads and quietened the interest.

Manchester United and Chelsea were also widely reported to be interested but no goal in the last 10 league games and the improving form of Nicolas Jackson has meant Chelsea have also cooled their interest, leaving Tottenham as the sole front runners at the moment.

Before Toney’s return from the suspension, Brentford manager Thomas Frank had admitted there was every chance Toney would leave the Bees this summer. He said: "It is relatively obvious that Ivan Toney will probably be sold this summer.

"He is a really skilled striker who is in his prime football age. Personally, as a coach, I would prefer to keep Toney but one day it could be fun to see him on a top team.

"This winter we actually had no offers for him, but it will surprise me if there aren't a lot of clubs that will be interested in him."

Spurs to finally go out for a Kane replacement

Tottenham are yet to replace Harry Kane who left for Bayern Munich in the summer and even though they made a bright start to the campaign when he left, four straight defeat has led to manager Ange Postecoglou admitting he might have to rebuild the squad in his own image.

Postecoglou told reporters after the defeat to Chelsea: "We need change. Change has to happen.

"You can’t want to alter your course and expect the same people are going to be on that. It’s just not going to happen.

"We’ve had two windows and we’ve had some development of players, for sure, but when I say we’ve still got a long way to go, that’s what I’m talking about.”

The exciting Toney bagged 20 league goals last season but he’s only managed just four in 15 games so far this time out.