Tottenham have been busy in the market this summer, committing over £200million to new signings as Roberto De Zerbi works to reshape his squad ahead of the season.
Big-money moves for Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Jan Paul van Hecke have already been wrapped up, while Marcos Senesi, Andrew Robertson and veteran keeper Martin Dubravka have all come in on free transfers.
Even with all that incoming business, plenty of uncertainty still surrounds the current squad. Lucas Bergvall is drawing transfer interest, and captain Cristian Romero continues to be strongly linked with both Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid.
Spurs are also said to be exploring further attacking reinforcements. Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo is reportedly high on their list, along with Benfica’s Norwegian winger Andreas Schjelderup. Manchester City’s Savinho and Chelsea’s Pedro Neto have both been discussed internally too, though Savinho is said to be De Zerbi’s preferred choice.
Former Chelsea and West Ham striker Carlton Cole, though, thinks Tottenham’s priority should be a proven, reliable goalscorer up top rather than more wide options.
Speaking on talkSPORT this past Thursday, Cole argued Spurs need a forward who can be trusted for around 20 league goals a season, naming Al Ahli’s Ivan Toney as a strong fit.
Cole told host Adam Catterall that genuine 20-goal strikers are rare, but suggested Spurs could go for Toney, or even explore a return for Harry Kane, either of which would put them in a strong position.
He also raised doubts over the club’s existing attacking options, pointing to fitness concerns around Dominic Solanke and questioning whether Richarlison can be relied upon for goals at the top level consistently.
Toney himself has thrived since his 2024 move from Brentford to Al Ahli, racking up 72 goals in 93 games, including 32 last season alone, second only to Julian Quinones in the Saudi Pro League scoring charts. He’s tied to Al Ahli until 2028 and reportedly earns around £400,000 a week, meaning any move would come at serious cost.
Interestingly, Toney already has a bit of a following among Spurs fans thanks to some history with Arsenal. After Brentford beat the Gunners 2-0 back in 2021, Toney’s cheeky social media dig became infamous, with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta later using it as fuel ahead of the return fixture. When Arsenal won the reverse game 3-0, Gabriel Magalhães threw the line back at him, echoing what Alexandre Lacazette had done after an earlier meeting too.
Looking back on it in September 2022, Toney admitted the joke was funny at first but got old fast. He said he’d thought about firing back but held off, adding that Arsenal deserved the win on the day as the better side.
Despite calling the whole saga a bit “cringey,” Toney has since made clear he’s long admired Arsenal’s style. Speaking on The Diary of a CEO podcast in 2023, he explained that while he’s been a Liverpool supporter since he was young, he’s always enjoyed watching Arsenal too, citing their football and their fans’ passion, though Liverpool remains his club above all others.
