Alan Hutton has said that Ivan Toney would be a game-changing signing for Tottenham and would elevate Ange Postecoglou's side to the next level.

Photo by SpursWeb Tottenham linked with Brentford's Ivan Toney Unsurprisingly, Toney's future has been the subject of plenty of speculation over the last couple of months, with the striker seeming to be on the verge of an exit from the Gtech Community Stadium as he has just a year left on his contract.

Tottenham continue to be mentioned as one of the 27-year-old's most likely destinations this summer, with Football Transfers stating two weeks ago that the path towards the England international had now been cleared as Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea had cooled their interest in the player.

The outlet added that the race for the Brentford star's signature looks set to be between Spurs and West Ham, with Tottenham allegedly readying an offer of around PS40m for the striker.

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Could Ivan Toney take Spurs to the next level? Hutton believes that rather than signing a young, up-and-coming centre-forward such as Even Ferguson, the Lilywhites should press ahead with a move for a proven performer like Toney.

When asked what kind of number nine Tottenham should target, he told Football Insider: "It depends. When you're looking at strikers, do you want somebody who's ready-made and is going to come in and affect your team right now?

"You'd have to pay for that. You'd be talking about Toney and these kinds of guys, that's big money. Or, somebody like Evan Ferguson, he's got the ability, he can score goals and he's only going to get better, he's young and hungry to learn.

"There's a lot of good that comes with that, but is he going to come in, play week in, week out, and score the goals you need? It depends on the process and what the likes of Daniel Levy and Ange are looking for.

"If they want to go and compete, Ferguson can do it, but he's still young, still learning and needs to improve. I think, if they got that big-hitter and big name at this moment in time, Toney would be incredible, it would really elevate them to that next level."

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The opportunity to sign a proven top-class goalscorer for less than PS50m is not one that Tottenham and some of the other big clubs in the Premier League will want to miss out on.

I expect the race for Toney's signature to intensify over the coming weeks, with Brentford likely to receive several offers.

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