“I don’t want to let him go” - Arsenal and Chelsea handed blow as manager insists transfer target is not for sale

Brentford manager Thomas Frank has made it clear that he wishes to keep reported Arsenal and Chelsea target Ivan Toney at the club beyond the winter transfer window. Toney has been widely linked with both the London giants in recent weeks as both clubs are looking to address their striking woes.

The English forward is nearing the end of an eight-month ban for violating betting regulations (over on January 17). Toney is expected to be back for the Bees' visit to Nottingham Forest on January 20.

Ahead of his much-awaited return, Thomas Frank has insisted that he plans on keeping his star attacker for the foreseeable future. Frank said, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano:

“It’s very clear — I don’t want to let him go. I want to keep him as long as possible and I only have that in mind. My only focus is getting him ready for the game vs Nottingham Forest."

Brentford have really struggled to cope with the absence of Toney thus far this season as they find themselves 16th in the table right now. They finished ninth last time out and much of that was the striker's credit.

Toney has overall scored 68 goals and produced 21 assists in 124 outings for Brentford. The Englishman has been exceptional for the Bees in the Premier League with 32 goals and nine assists in 68 league games. The Arsenal target scored 20 goals in the Premier League last season, finishing third behind only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane in the race for Golden Boot.

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Arsenal legend Martin Keown compares Chelsea star to Kevin De Bruyne

Arsenal icon Martin Keown compared Chelsea's Cole Palmer to Kevin De Bruyne after the Englishman inspired the Blues to a 1-0 win against Fulham at Stamford Bridge on January 13. Mauricio Pochettino's side won their third Premier League game in a row with Palmer playing a decisive role once again.

The Blues suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Middlesbrough midweek in the EFL Cup but returned to winning ways with a victory against Marco Silva's Fulham by the same margin. Palmer played a brilliant pass for Raheem Sterling in the second minute of stoppage time in the first half as the latter was impeded inside the box, resulting in a penalty.

Palmer made no mistake from the spot, converting his fifth spot-kick of the season. Following the game, Arsenal icon Martin Keown claimed that Pep Guardiola made the wrong call by selling the 21-year-old to Chelsea. He said (via talkSPORT):

“Palmer played a De Bruyne-like pass, it’s the kind of pass we hadn’t seen in this game yet. Palmer sees these opportunities on the pitch. We talk about a helicopter vision of the game from De Bruyne, and I think Palmer has that as well. I think Palmer is the one young player here who sees himself with that calmness."

Keown added:

"It was never in doubt [scoring the penalty], he’s so confident in front of goal. It’s been a game where Chelsea have totally dominated but haven’t shown any composure, but there was plenty on view from Palmer there. They should call him Cold Palmer."

The Arsenal legend concluded:

Palmer’s statistics are phenomenal – there’s only Jude Bellingham ahead of him as an Under-21 player throughout Europe, it’s incredible and he’s done it without us really noticing. He’s icy cool. When you see him take the penalty you can see him sort of going, ‘Fantastic, this is my moment, give us the ball’ – a lot of other players would be shirking that responsibility. Would you say Pep got this wrong? Should he have allowed him to come here to Chelsea?"

Palmer joined Chelsea in a deal reportedly worth £40 million from Manchester City last summer. The youngster has scored eight goals and provided seven assists in 21 appearances across competitions this season.