If Saturday night's game between Arsenal and Brentford was an audition for Ivan Toney to display his credentials then he arguably failed it.

Linked so regularly with the Gunners in recent months it's felt somewhat of a foregone conclusion that he'd end up at the Emirates. Toney has admitted that he liked Arsenal growing up, the Gunners need a striker and Thomas Frank has already suggested he'll leave in the summer.

It seems a perfect match, doesn't it? Perhaps not. Toney's attitude since returning to the pitch in January has been rather questionable, suggesting his future lies at a bigger club despite being handed the captain's armband by Frank.

The striker isn't lying. He probably should be playing for a better club but to admit such a thing after months out due to a betting ban was suspect. Toney needed to let his football do the talking and having now gone goalless in his last four games perhaps suggests he's not truly at the races yet.

It must be noted, however, that the 27-year-old did find the net on four occasions in his first five games back.

Ivan Toney's performance in numbers vs Arsenal

Toney did not find the net against the Gunners but to his credit, not many strikers have in recent games.

Indeed, the Gunners have conceded an xG against them of just 4.9 in all competitions since 2024 began.

To hear that Toney only registered 0.01 xG against Arsenal on Saturday, therefore, should hardly come as a shock.

Auditioning for your big move against Mikel Arteta's men is never going to be the easiest litmus test. That being said, he was bullied by Gabriel and William Saliba.

Toney dismally only completed 30% of his passes, ceded possession 23 times and won just nine of his 16 duels. It's safe to say it wasn't the striker's finest day at the office.

Minutes played

90

Touches

40

Accurate passes

6/20 (30%)

Key passes

2

Shots

1

Ground duels won

2/5

Aerials won

7/11

xG (expected goals)

0.01

xA (expected assists)

0.02

Judging him purely based on that performance would be harsh but for a player who could allegedly cost in the region of £80m, you'd want to see more.

Arsenal's Ivan Toney alternatives

January was dominated with bylines suggesting that Arsenal needed to do their utmost to sign a new striker in January or the summer. After a run of games where Arteta's side had scored once in three games over the New Year period there was a strong case to supplement that argument.

However, they have been nothing short of exceptional since that moment, crashing home 33 goals in their last eight domestic encounters.

They have largely done that without their star centre forward Gabriel Jesus either. Instead, Kai Havertz, scorer of the winner against Brentford has finally stepped up.

The German, who cost £65m last summer, has defied the critics and found the net in each of his last four outings, registering two assists in that time as well.

It's unlikely the former Chelsea midfielder will ever be a prolific 20-goal-a-season man that you seemingly need to win a league title but it does bode well. Perhaps Arsenal don't need to spend quite as much on a striker as they thought.

They could even turn their hand to a youngster in the Hale End academy. It looks as though they could be brewing another Folarin Balogun, a prolific figure out on loan last season.

The USA international bagged 22 goals in 2022/23 on loan at Stade Reims before Edu and Co cashed in to the tune of £25.7m.

Well, the next loan star shining away from the club is Mika Biereth. He might not quite be at the level Balogun was in front of the net but he's still beating the goalkeeper with immense regularity.

Mika Biereth stats out on loan

The 21-year-old has scored 11 times in 23 games this season, picking up six assists for his troubles across two loan spells. The first was a prolific time with Motherwell in Scotland, netting six in 14 SPFL matches.

Now at Sturm Graz in Austria, the youngster has already tallied up two strikes in four Bundesliga games and has scored twice in the Conference League.

Appearances

15

8

Minutes

1045'

577'

Goals

6

5

Assists

5

1

So, what makes Biereth so special? Perhaps it's comparisons to a certain Harry Kane and Erling Haaland. Speaking to the i newspaper last week, the English-born Denmark youth international suggested he was "a hybrid" of both of them, although at "a much worse level."

Considering the glittering careers the two forwards have had it's accurate, although he's being rather harsh on himself.

Biereth continued: "Like Haaland, all I really care about is scoring goals. If you’d offer me two touches of the ball and two goals I’d take that. For me, it’s all about scoring goals.

“[But] there are different aspects of the game when scoring goals isn’t possible when the ball is deep so then it’s about combining, linking the play, holding the ball up like Kane does. Those are the two different variables on the pitch.”

Like Haaland at a young age, Biereth is scoring goals in Austrian football but it will take a lot of development for the young Arsenal sensation to live up to the Norwegian's name.

After all, the now Manchester City star bagged 29 in 27 during his time with RB Salzburg in the Eastern Alps.

Whether Biereth goes on to make it as an Arsenal player, time will tell. Either way, he represents a budget and exciting option should the Gunners decide to opt against signing Toney.