Despite having Richarlison, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Moise Kean at our disposal, we’re still on the hunt for a striker this summer. Oumar Niasse was released and could be followed through the exit door by Cenk Tosun, so one replacement would be helpful.
Odsonne Edouard, Patrik Schick, Hirving Lozano, Martin Braithwaite, Andrea Belotti, Sardar Azmoun and Victor Osimhen are among the names being linked with us, but the Daily Mail say Josh King remains on our radar.
Unfortunately, the same report highlights that AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain have entered the race for his signature, so that’s a double blow for our pursuit.
Why has his asking price gone up?
King was said to be available for £15m earlier in the month, but the Daily Mail say he’s now got a £25m asking price which may be down to the growing interest in his signature.
It remains to be seen whether Bournemouth are successful getting so much for King, however, as the 28-year-old is in the final year of his deal and isn’t likely to sign a contract extension with the newly-relegated outfit.
Bournemouth will have to cash in this summer to get maximum value, so they won’t want to price clubs out of making a move.
Good squad player but not a Brands target
Marcel Brands has been tasked with lowering the average age of the squad, replacing ageing deadwood with young equivalents. So it wouldn’t make a lot of sense bringing a soon-to-be 29-year-old King to Goodison Park, even if he was be a useful option in attack.
The 28-year-old has made 170 appearances in all competitions since joining Bournemouth from Blackburn Rovers in 2015, scoring 50 goals with 17 assists. He’ll break the bank and we aren’t blessed with lucrative funds. We’re trying to sign Allan from Napoli and James Rodriguez from Real Madrid but won’t meet their asking prices because every penny counts in our situation.
Summary
While a good player who could boost our push for a top-six finish next season, it’s hard to see us shelling out £25m to sign King from Bournemouth. It’s also hard to see him rejecting interest from Milan and PSG to come to Goodison Park, so his future may be away from Merseyside.
In other news, we have agreed personal terms with James Rodriguez