Brentford technical director Lee Dykes has conceded that Arsenal and Chelsea-linked attacker Ivan Toney could be on his way out of the club "very shortly".
Despite spending seven months out of action for a string of betting breaches, the England international remains one of the most in-demand marksmen in the Premier League.
Before being implicated in his gambling scandal, Toney struck 20 Premier League goals for Thomas Frank's side in the 2022-23 season and will be eligible to return to competitive action in January.
Whether Toney is seen in a Brentford shirt again remains to be seen, though, as both Arsenal and Chelsea are being tipped to fight for his services when the transfer window reopens next month.
The 27-year-old is said to be particularly excited about a potential move to Arsenal in 2024, and he only has just over 18 months left to run on his deal with Brentford, who could be pressured into parting ways with their star striker next year if he does not extend his terms.
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Brentford boss Frank is hopeful that the West London outfit will be able to retain Toney's services beyond the end of the campaign, and there is also said to be optimism that he will pen a contract extension at the Gtech Community Stadium.
However, speaking in an interview with the official Brentford website, Dykes has admitted that Toney may be on the move in the near future, but any interested parties must fork out a "decent" transfer fee.
"I am so excited for Ivan to come back because I see him out there in training and he is some player; it looks like he's never been away," Dykes said. "There's a real ambition from him and I can see in his eyes that he's going to be better than he's ever been; I really believe that will be the case.
"Yes, there will be lots of interest in Ivan in January. Naturally, there should be. He was the third-highest Premier League goalscorer last season - one of them [Harry Kane] has gone to Germany now, so he's up there as one of the best strikers in the division. He is in the top five in the world, in my opinion.
"So there should be interest, and maybe the time comes very shortly that Ivan moves on to another club. But they will have to pay a decent transfer fee to acquire his services because he is some talent."
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Brentford are supposedly ready to hold out for as much as £100m to sell Toney in January, a gargantuan profit on the £4.8m they shelled out to sign him from Peterborough United in 2020.
Helping Brentford achieve promotion to the Premier League in his debut season, the Englishman - formerly of Newcastle United - has come up with 68 goals and 21 assists from 124 games for the Bees across all competitions.
Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea would be expected to fork out a nine-figure sum to prise Toney away from Brentford in January, especially with the Gunners also eyeing reinforcements in midfield.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have supposedly identified a couple of alternatives to the Bees man, including Sporting Lisbon's Viktor Gyokeres and Napoli's Victor Osimhen, although the latter is expected to sign a new deal with the Italian champions.
Osimhen's new contract will reportedly include a release clause of around £112m, though, and the Blues would apparently be prepared to trigger that option.
Ben Knapton
