Ray Parlour believes should make a move for Brentford’s Ivan Toney this summer rather than pursuing ’s Gabriel Jesus.
With and Eddie Nketiah set to leave the Emirates at the end of the season, the Gunners are aiming to sign at least one striker and reports suggest Jesus, who has just a year left on his contract, has emerged as a top target for Mikel Arteta.
However, following last season’s promotion with Brentford, Toney has impressed in the Premier League, scoring 12 goals, and the Englishman could be available for around £30million when the summer window opens.
Parlour, the former Arsenal midfielder, thinks Toney is a more realistic target than Jesus and has urged his old club to focus on the 26-year-old as they look to sign ’s replacement.
Speaking to, he said: ‘The strikers they’ll be looking at, they’ll also be looking at the other clubs interested in those strikers.
‘You don’t want to be getting into bidding wars. How many clubs will be after Toney, if he’s available?
‘That’s the sort of striker I would be trying to get at Arsenal.’
According to , Arsenal are leading the race to sign Jesus as the Brazilian is keen to link up with Arteta again after their time together at City when the Gunners manager was Pep Guardiola’s assistant.
Yet Arsenal going unchallenged in their quest to acquire the 25-year-old seems unlikely considering his display against Watford on Saturday where he scored four goals in an emphatic 5-1 win.
Since arriving at City in 2017, Jesus has struggled to nail down a regular starting place at the Etihad and is said to be growing frustrated.
It was thought the departure of Sergio Aguero last summer would result in Jesus becoming Guardiola’s first-choice front man, however, City have often played without a striker this term.
The pursuit of Tottenham’s Harry Kane last year suggests Guardiola is not completely convinced by Jesus. Meanwhile, speculation that Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland is on his way to Manchester in the coming months will not ease Jesus’ concerns about a lack of game time.
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