Tottenham Hotspur emerged from Old Trafford last time out in the Premier League with a creditable 2-2 draw, but Ange Postecoglou will be rueing his injury-hit squad's failure to claim a historic victory nonetheless.
The Australian remarked in his post-match interview that his side deserved victory at the Theatre of Dreams and hailed the "enormous effort", with resurgent Richarlison getting on the score sheet once again.
The Brazilian bagged his sixth goal from as many matches in the top flight after cancelling out Rasmus Hojlund's fierce opener in the first half, and while his return to goalscoring form has come at a perfect time – with talisman Heung-min Son absent at the Asia Cup – it's unlikely that he will enter a lasting vein of form to produce the same results as, say, Harry Kane.
That particular goalscorer enjoyed quite the prolific success at Tottenham, scoring 30 goals last season before transferring to Bayern Munich in August, closing the door on a career-long affiliation with the Lilywhites that had culminated in his status as the record scorer – with 278 strikes from 430 outings.
He has not yet been replaced and this is something that will be addressed in the summer; Spurs have welcomed versatile forward Timo Werner to the pack this month but he is not the focal frontman still needed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Spurs transfer news – striker
Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke, who has scored 12 goals from 19 Premier League appearances this season, has been linked with a move to Tottenham over recent weeks and so too has Dutch Eredivisie champion Santiago Gimenez, who has been touted at £30m by Feyenoord.
However, Postecoglou has shown his lofty ambitions since day one and, with this in mind, it's not surprising that Brentford phenom Ivan Toney is on the club's radar.
According to journalist Dean Jones – speaking to GIVEMESPORT – Tottenham are lurking "in the background" in the race to sign the England international and have been named as one of the clubs "looking" at the former Newcastle United man, though Arsenal and Chelsea are in pole position.
Toney is understood to have a price tag of £100m and while this makes the completion of a deal difficult, Spurs remain listed as suitors and this suggests that there's a tentative feeling that a deal could be struck.
How Ivan Toney would fit in at Spurs
Toney's name has re-entered football's discourse on the Premier League scene this month, soon to return from an eight-month suspension after being convicted of breaching the Football Association's betting rules.
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It halted a sensational rise to prominence with Brentford that had seen his talismanic qualities shine through, leading the charge as Thomas Frank's side escaped from the Championship and cemented a spot in the top division.
Last season, the one-cap international scored 20 goals and provided four assists from 33 matches in the Premier League, as per Sofascore, winning 6.7 duels per match and creating 12 big chances for his teammates.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Finishing
Offside awareness
Direct free-kicks
Aerial duels
Through balls
*Sourced via WhoScored
A dynamic centre-forward with an all-encompassing skill set, Toney ranks among the top 15% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for progressive passes, the top 7% for interceptions and the top 16% for aerial duels won per 90, as per FBref.
Not only is he deadly in the danger area but he threads the play together and brings the best out of his teammates, having even been remarked to be "unplayable" at times by pundit Alan Shearer.
How Ivan Toney compares to Harry Kane
Toney might be something of a goalscoring machine but he is clearly a player of expansive style and because of this he may well be the perfect fit for Postecoglou's Tottenham side.
Of course, numerous high-profile teams have the same thought in mind and it will be difficult to prevail in this race, though given that Toney's Three Lions teammate Declan Rice has proclaimed him to play "like Harry Kane", such is his prowess as a complete centre-forward.
As was noted earlier, the 27-year-old created 12 big chances in the Premier League last season to perch alongside his clinical return, with only Kane surpassing this tally, as evidenced below.
#
Player
Club
Chances Created
1.
Harry Kane
Tottenham Hotspur
14
2.
Ivan Toney
Brentford
12
3.
Erling Haaland
Manchester City
11
4.
Darwin Nunez
Liverpool
11
5.
Danny Welbeck
Brighton & Hove Albion
8
*Sourced via premierleague.com
Kane might be one of the most fearsome goalscorers in European football but he is also one of the most creative and industrious, ranking among the top 2% of forwards for goals scored, the top 12% for assists and the top 7% for progressive passes per 90.
By making a move for Toney – who has been described as a "monster" of a player by Frank – and completing his Tottenham squad with a starring striker, Postecoglou could not only take his side to the next level but he could provide it with a Kane replica to serve perfectly within the project.
Having a player of such style would have a glowing effect on the likes of Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski, with the aforementioned Richarlison perhaps benefitting too.
The Brazilian might be in a rich vein of goalscoring form right now but his game is not exclusive to this, also supplying three assists from 13 starts in the Premier League this season.
The £90k-per-week ace also ranks among the top 10% of forwards for touches in the attacking penalty area per 90, and with such constancy in surging into the final third and wreaking havoc, Toney would be able to bring the best out of him with the regularity of his chance creation.
Of course, Kane is one of the greatest players in Tottenham's history and to coin Toney as a direct replacement would be ludicrous, but there are stylistic similarities that make the Brentford man an excellent choice to fill the still-vacant position at the spearhead of Tottenham's team.