£100m Arsenal target told he’d ‘love to play’ with Gabriel Jesus in ‘dream’ claim

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Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson believes that Ivan Toney would be a perfect partner for Gabriel Jesus. 

Ahead of the upcoming January transfer window, Arsenal have been heavily linked with a move for Brentford striker Ivan Toney.

However, the Bees are reluctant to let the 27-year-old go, and are thought to want £100 million in exchange for his services. Equally, Toney himself is said to be undecided about the prospect of leaving the Gtech Community Stadium mid-season.

Arsenal are considering other potential striker options who could be brought in. However, as reported by The Mirror, Mikel Arteta has made Toney his top January target. The hierarchy at the club have shown a willingness to back the Spanish coach heavily in the market before, most notably with the club-record capture of Declan Rice in the summer. 

If Toney were to arrive at the Emirates Stadium, it would be fascinating to see how that would impact Gabriel Jesus’ game time. As things stand, the Brazilian is the Gunners’ first choice striker when fit. However, his involvement has been limited so far this season due to injury issues. 

It would seem most likely, that if Toney were to join the north London club, then either he or Jesus would be primarily used from the bench.

However, Paul Merson is convinced that the pair would thrive alongside one another on the pitch. As quoted by Sky Sports, he said, “I think Jesus is a dream to play with. If you’re an Ivan Toney you’d love to play with him. He’s a team player but he won’t get you the goals to win the Premier League on his own.”

Mikel Arteta unlikely to explore Ivan Toney and Gabriel Jesus combo potential at Arsenal

At Brentford, Toney often linked up well with Bryan Mbeumo, who was able to add pace and dynamism to the once-capped England man’s physicality and clever movement. Jesus, whose game is comparable to Mbeumo’s, could strike up a similarly effective relationship with Toney.

However, that would of course mean that another member of the current regular Arsenal starting XI would have to drop out of the side. It is hard to envisage Arteta dropping either of Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli to the bench, meaning a sacrifice would have to be made from the midfield contingent.

Rice and club captain Martin Odegaard are too important to remove, meaning the only real candidate for withdrawal is Kai Havertz, or whoever else may be featured in the left-eight role. Even then, though, Arteta would be unlikely to want to weaken his team in the middle of the park in order to accommodate two strikers. 

Jesus and Toney do have the potential to forge an effective relationship on the pitch, but it would not be a partnership that would routinely start matches for Arsenal.