Chelsea reportedly have the edge over Liverpool in the transfer race for Brentford striker Ivan Toney due to the player’s desire to stay in London.

The England international is attracting plenty of headlines at the moment, with Arsenal and Chelsea being most strongly linked with him by Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive Daily Briefing column.

There’s now been another update from well-connected Chelsea journalist Simon Phillips, who states that the Blues have done a lot of groundwork on this deal, whilst also naming Liverpool as another club who could be involved in the race for the 27-year-old’s signature.

Toney doesn’t seem like an obvious priority for Liverpool at the moment due to the improved form of Darwin Nunez up front, but it’s also easy to see why all the top clubs could be keeping a close eye on the player’s situation at Brentford.

Ivan Toney in action for Brentford
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Anyway, if Toney is to move it seems that Chelsea would be a more likely option than Liverpool due to the London factor, but of course that could also mean Arsenal remain in a strong position.

If it were to come down to deciding between a move to the Emirates Stadium or Stamford Bridge, Toney would surely do well to pick the former due to Mikel Arteta’s side being in the Champions League and a lot further along in their project than Chelsea.