Arsenal offered Ivan Toney transfer alternative as 'relations sour' with club

Arsenal may be tempted to revisit their interest in Ferran Torres in the January transfer window after the Barcelona forward reportedly fell out with Xavi.

The Gunners are keen to add a striker to their squad if possible and Mirror Football understands that Mikel Arteta has made Ivan Toney his number one transfer target. Toney is keen to leave Brentford in January once he has served his eight-month ban for breaching FA rules on gambling.

Brentford are open to selling, but only at the right price and they have slapped a £60million asking price on his head following interest from Arsenal. Toney’s contract expires in June 2025 and the club are confident of driving a hard bargain in the New Year, despite his apparent desire to join the north London club.

Arsenal might have to look elsewhere as they search for a striker to add to their squad alongside Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah. They were linked with Torres over the summer, but the former Manchester City man ended up staying up in Catalonia.

But Arsenal may be encouraged by reports from AS, who claim that Torres is considering his options after growing annoyed with a lack of game time from Xavi. The Barcelona boss has stuck with Robert Lewandowski up front, with Torres appearing more often as a substitute.

The 23-year-old has five goals and two assists in 19 appearances, but has started just seven times in La Liga so far this season and has often been used on the left wing, rather than up front. His representatives are reportedly not close with Xavi and the arrival of Vitor Roque from Athletico Paranaense in January in a €40m (£34.3m) deal will push Torres further down the pecking order.

He is still under contract with Barca until June 2027, but the club may be willing to cut