Chelsea step up Ivan Toney transfer pursuit as Brentford demand £80m: report

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has urged the club to 'move heaven and earth' to complete a deal for Ivan Toney.

The Brentford and England striker has been linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge for some time, and such speculation has only intensified following his recent return from an eight-month ban for gambling offences.

Now, Pochettino appears to be pushing for the Blues to go out and get the 27-year-old – who has scored four goals in five appearances since stepping back onto the pitch.

The Sun claim they have been told that Pochettino "believes Toney can transform his team" and help turn Chelsea into "genuine title contenders" once more.

After the thoroughly underwhelming re-signing of Romelu Lukaku, the Blues continued to struggle for goals last season – and things haven't improved sufficiently in that department this term.

Forwards Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson arrived for £52m and £32m respectively back in the summer – but while Nkunku has looked encouraging since his injury-delayed debut in December, he is not an out-and-out number nine, and Jackson has found the net only seven times in 21 Premier League outings.

Toney could well be the solution to Chelsea's attacking woes, but the former Newcastle youngster won't come cheap.

Brentford are thought to be demanding upwards of £80m for the player they signed for an initial £5m from League One Peterborough United in the summer of 2020.

Only four times in their history have Chelsea paid a transfer fee worth more than that – although all of those have been in the last two-and-a-half years.

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