CHELSEA are braced for a three-way battle with their London rivals for Ivan Toney.
The club’s top brass suspect Tottenham as well as Arsenal are poised to move for the controversial £100 million-rated Brentford striker during the next transfer window.
Toney is training again while serving the remainder of an eight month ban he received in May for breaking rules on betting.
And as he warms up for a long-awaited return in January, the Premier League’s big clubs in the Capital are starting to circle.
Chelsea and Arsenal have long-established interest in Toney, 27, who scored 21 goals for The Bees before copping his ban towards the end of last season.
But insiders at Stamford Bridge are also convinced that Tottenham are lining up a bid to buy Toney as a replacement for Harry Kane.
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Spurs have played down speculation linking them to Toney, claiming they are more focused on adding defensive cover in the new year.
But sources at Stamford Bridge are not convinced and are preparing to go head-to-head with their city neighbours in the transfer market.
Kane quit Spurs for German giants Bayern Munich in the summer and he hasn’t been directly replaced despite the £47.5 million signing of forward Brennan Johnson.
Arsenal have been tracking Toney for some time to boost their forward line as they bid to push defending champions Manchester City for the Premier League title.
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Current striker Gabriel Jesus has only this week returned from a month-long injury absence by playing for his country Brazil.
Chelsea’s need for a dedicated centre forward has been obvious despite recent goals from new signing Nicolas Jackson.
The Senegalese has scored four in two games in the absence of crocked Christopher Nkunku.
But Chelsea failed to find the net in home matches against Brentford, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
