Saudi Pro League giants Al-Ahli have apparently come to an agreement with Brentford over a move for Ivan Toney, mere moments after it was reported that they were closing in on Victor Osimhen's capture.
Toney has been omitted from Brentford's first two Premier League squads this season on account of his uncertain future, having entered the last 12 months of his deal with Thomas Frank's side.
Back in January, it appeared that a £100m battle was brewing between Arsenal and Chelsea, but the Gunners quickly dropped their interest as Brentford were forced to dramatically drop their asking price.
There had been little movement in Toney's situation before deadline day, although all of Chelsea, Manchester United and Al-Ahli were believed to have been keeping a close eye on developments.
Earlier on deadline day, it was reported that Al-Ahli were finalising an agreement to sign Osimhen from Napoli, seemingly bumping Toney to the top of Chelsea's eleventh-hour striker wishlist.
Toney 'to join Al-Ahli' as Osimhen move in jeopardy?
However, The Mirror now claims that the England international is also on his way to Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli, who will pay Brentford £40m to take Toney off of their hands.
The striker is expected to sign a four-year contract with the Middle Eastern giants until 2028, and together with his wages, the total cost of the deal will rise to a staggering £100m.
It is unclear whether Toney's imminent switch to Al-Ahli could have an impact on their prospective move for Osimhen, who has a medical booked but is not thought to have given the final green light to a move to the gulf state yet.
Toney - who was left out of the England squad for their upcoming Nations League matches - will exit the Gtech Community Stadium with 72 goals and 23 assists under his belt from 141 matches across all competitions.
Where do Chelsea go from here?
Welcome to transfer deadline day. From optimism that at least one of Osimhen or Toney would arrive at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea could sensationally end up missing out on both targets to the same club.
However, while Toney is set to undergo his Al-Ahli medical in London and has given the thumbs-up to a move to the Saudi Pro League, Osimhen is still not believed to have made his final decision.
As a result, there is still a small sliver of hope that the Nigeria international could ultimately reject a £67.3m move to Al-Ahli, even though they are willing to pay him a ludicrous €40m (£33.7m) per year.
The Nigeria international's agent has stressed that Osimhen still has unfinished business in European football, and Al-Ahli reportedly cannot sign both him and Toney without selling one of their current foreign players.
Clubs in the Saudi Pro League are only permitted to have 10 foreign players in their squad, and according to reporter Kaveh Solhekol, Al-Ahli signing both Toney and Osimhen is unfeasible financially.
Al-Ahli's deal for Toney could very well be a contingency plan in case the Osimhen deal falls through, so the latter may end up at Stamford Bridge after all, but not without some financial compromises. body check tags ::
