Theo Walcott names the one player Arsenal really need to sign after losing to Porto

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Theo Walcott has suggested that Arsenal should sign Ivan Toney to solve their woes up front following the defeat to Porto last night.

We were all excited for the return of the Champions League, but it turned out to be a disappointing evening. Arsenal lost 1-0, and unsurprisingly, calls for a new striker emerged right after the full-time whistle. Walcott says he’s a big fan of Toney.

Theo Walcott suggests Arsenal should sign Ivan Toney

Porto made it a really frustrating game for Arsenal last night.

We just didn’t have any rhythm during our build-up because the hosts constantly kept breaking play up. In the end, a mistake from Arsenal allowed them to score and win the game.

Arsenal will have to do better to win the second leg and the tie, but following last night’s defeat, everyone is talking about a new striker again.

Former Gunner Theo Walcott is one of them, and he admitted that he’s a big fan of Ivan Toney. He further compared the Brentford star to Olivier Giroud and claimed that Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli will explode if they play alongside a big man.

Speaking on BBC 5 Live Sport last night, Walcott said: “I am a big fan of a certain Brentford striker who I won’t name. It’s really quite obvious to see there with all the set pieces, Arsenal are a really big team, but if you’ve got someone like that in your team as well…

Missing [Gabriel] Jesus tonight as well who is a different sort of No.9, again, there’s no one else to call upon. Kai Havertz is not a striker, I think he’s done really well but I don’t think he’s a standard No.9. That is something I feel that Edu and Mikel will be discussing in the summer, I’m pretty sure about that.

“I know we’re talking about someone who is not at the club but you play different with certain players up front, I remember playing with [Olivier] Giroud up front I played differently.

“Having a big man up front, the wingers would bounce it off him, [Bukayo] Saka and [Gabriel] Martinelli would have an absolute field day.”

Arsenal are unlikely to sign Toney now

Ivan Toney made a lot of sense for Arsenal in last month’s transfer window.

There weren’t really many other top-level strikers on the market, and the fact that the Brentford man was Premier League-proven made him a very attractive option.

In the summer, however, Arsenal will have the chance to look at a number of elite centre-forwards in Europe. Most, if not all of them, will be younger than Toney as well, which would be a positive.

For those reasons, we think it’s unlikely Arsenal will pursue a move for Toney, but if the Englishman becomes available for a bargain fee because he would’ve entered the final year of his contract, it won’t be a bad idea at all to bring him in.