Chelsea must seal £40m transfer to give Ivan Toney dream welcome gift

Chelsea's astonishing transfer window appears to have taken yet another turn after Brentford striker Ivan Toney emerged as a target for the Blues in the final week of the window.

Toney has not been named in Brentford's squad for the past two matches in the Premier League with Thomas Frank stating it was due to the amount of transfer speculation revolving around his striker. It had appeared destined for the England international to move to Saudi Arabia with Al Ahli having come to an agreement for his signature.

However on Tuesday, FL became aware that Chelsea had re-entered the race to bring Toney on board after deciding he could be the perfect fit for the Blues' strikeforce needs. While Joao Felix only signed recently, it is believed Enzo Maresca wants a proven goalscorer to join the club to add another edge to the attack.

Napoli's Victor Osimhen is also a player of interest with football.london under the impression he is their main target. However, while Chelsea are wanting to bring the striker in on loan, Osimhen wants the move to be permanent.

With the deal for Osimhen having reached an impasse, it would be unsurprising if the Blues were not looking at other options like Toney this summer. If the decision is made to bring Toney to the club, they could hand him the perfect welcome gift by selling another player.

Carney Chukwuemeka has missed the start of the campaign for the Blues after being deemed out of favour by Maresca. Both Barcelona and Crystal Palace have been linked with the £40m-valued midfielder's signature.

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Should either side manage to complete a deal for the former Aston Villa man, that would free the No.17 shirt at Stamford Bridge. Toney wore the No.17 at both Brentford and Peterborough United and while the No.9 is available, he may prefer to keep a number familiar to him.

Of course, after Raheem Sterling and Trevoh Chalobah were stripped of their numbers, it is not beyond reason that Maresca would do the same again to hand Toney his dream shirt number. Clubs are able to ask special permission from the Premier League to change a player's number after the start of the season.

Notably, Manchester United did this to give Cristiano Ronaldo the No.7 and move Edinson Cavani to No.21 after Dan James' departure and the Portuguese ace's arrival.