Meatwad I agree to an extent. For the most part, January signings are intended to bring in cover, or a stop gap type situation, or a bit of desperation. You don’t want it to be a huge outlay, but you’re at the mercy of the selling club if they have no real urgency or might benefit from a bidding war.

But the flip side is if you do get it right, that injection of momentum, of a bit of consistent quality at a critical juncture in the season is invaluable. Allows time for others to find their form again and might even unlock the whole attack. Especially for someone like Toney who knows the league and would certainly (in my opinion) relish the challenge of leading a top club, and probably even feels he has a point to prove.

Normally I’m neutral about January signings, but In this case I feel it’s a necessity rather than a luxury. Title winning windows are this small, this tight. We know we have a close to title winning team now. We might need an extra push to get it over the line? Alright then, go get it, and win. Win now. Principle later.

      flobaba
      i actually like him as an option to bring on and spot start and was in favor of him earlier in the season. but the more I watch us we need a clear #1 striker and that's not him. why waste money we don't have (and it might be kroenke's money, but the FFP rules clearly put a stop to us with this raya loan with mandatory buy option thing). just go after the real heavy hitters in the summer, they aren't for sale in january for obvious reasons.

        don't really want us to waste time with toney tbh. I think we have deeper issues that won't be solved by sticking an above average 9 into the team

        Why waste spending an inflated fee on someone who hasn't played for 7 months? If Toney is 'the one,' you buy him in the summer.

        Ultimately it's about how much impact you think the player would make, not how long they've been out.

        And why wait? We need a goal scorer now. If he's our guy, and we can make it happen, we should do it now.

        Sell Nketiah to Crystal Palace to help with FFP.

        Maybe Smith Rowe too, I wouldn't mind sacrificing him as well.

        If we don't win the league, it will likely be because we don't have a striker who can score about 10-15 goals in the second half of the season. One who can convert control and dominance into goals at the right time, nudging game momentum and results in our favor.

        Defence is solid, midfield is very good, contribution across forward line is and has been the big drop off.

          Toney isn’t really that either though. I know he scored a few last year, but he’s pretty much another Jesus buildup type.

          I personally don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world, but a 28yr old rotational/backup option shouldn’t cost much more than Trossard money.

          Anyway, I’d be amazed if Brendford sell in Jan. They’re dropping down the table and Mbeumo is out long term.

          He’d bring a much greater goal threat than Jesus.

          He’s an excellent player. Clever and physically able

            How much do you think it would cost to get him Dules?

            Well he’s out of contract in the summer of 2025 so I’d imagine Brentford would struggle to fetch the £100m they are saying they’d want.

            Straight deal I recon £70m gets him but recon they’d be open to a loan with an obligation to buy at £75m or something similar

            lorddulaarsenal He’d bring a much greater goal threat than Jesus.

            Yep he's consistently scored throughout his career. I think given how much of the ball we're having in the opposition 3rd he'd score a load here.

                flobaba Ultimately it's about how much impact you think the player would make, not how long they've been out.

                Yeah, I'm not convinced he's going to make an impact this season.

                  Qwiss

                  He scored 14 non penalty goals last year in 33 starts. Jesus scored 10 in 24. The season before that he scored 10 in 33 games.

                  I’d wager a huge number of his goals were on the break too.

                  I’m a big fan of Toney and I’m sure he’d score a few, but expectations that he’ll bag loads are wide of the mark.

                      Jesus has 14 league goals total for us. I'll take Toney over that alright.

                      Qwiss one of the oldest sayings in football, that almost never works out the way people think

                        goon I agree Goon. I want to see his link up play in the box. We know he will be a great target for Raya. But what happens in the deep block?

                          He will be a great target in a deep block obviously? Imagine him at the end of the crosses instead of Jesus, he eats all those everyday of the week easily

                          His link up play is class anyway. He also has a strikers first touch, the sort that opens up a half yard of space before the defender has a chance to set himself. Thats something we lack big time.

                          damn i might have to revisit my feelings about this one. while i dismissed the title challenge after the west ham game and didn't see the point in spending this kind of money for the delusion of a title challenge, but we might need him to finish top 4.