Brentford are reportedly confident that they'll be able to keep Ivan Toney in the January transfer window and tie the star down with a new contract in the midst of a heated race between London rivals Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.

The 27-year-old is still serving his eight-month suspension for breaching FA regulations surrounding gambling and betting, but is set to return to action on January 16. In the meantime, he's been participating in training as well as some of the Bees' Under-21s games in order to keep his match fitness up to standard.

Having netted 35 goals across the last two seasons in all competitions for Brentford, Toney is already a priority target for many clubs up and down the country even in the wake of his suspension. While some, including the Gunners, were turned off from a summer move for the striker, their interest has come back for the winter period.

Mikel Arteta's side have been hampered by injury problems to their attacking ranks so far this season, with Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli just a few of those front options that have been forced to sit out on the sidelines at some point this season. However, they're far from the only team with issues in the treatment room.

Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea are also interested, despite striker Nicolas Jackson hitting a purple patch in front of goal in recent matches. The introduction of Cole Palmer has reinvigorated the Blues in front of goal, who got off to a sluggish start, but are still looking to add to their arsenal of weapons up front.

After losing Harry Kane in a late summer move to Bayern Munich, Spurs are also in need of a striker partner to Son Heung-min amid injury issues of their own. Brennan Johnson and James Maddison have both been injury concerns already this season, with the latter likely to be out until the New Year.

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But there's been a sudden development in the race for the striker as, according to TalkSPORT, the Bees are now confident that they can ward off any incoming options that would be available to Toney. They believe that he'll be willing to sign a new contract in the next few months, meaning any club likely to go after him will need to pay a sum far greater than the already-incredible £100m that the Bees are believed to want.

Speaking earlier this season, manager Thomas Frank admitted that he'd like to keep Toney on board for the future, and it appears as though he could get his wish. He said: "He is happy at the club, I want him to stay. Ivan is happy to stay. He's happy at the club.

"What happens in the future is impossible to guess about... Ivan's skillset in terms of finishing, composure in those moments, link-up play, presence, character... He is a very good package. It's not for me to put a price tag on him, it is down to the club. I'm happy with him and I hope he plays here forever."