Oumar Niasse being released, Sandro Ramirez being sold to SD Huesca and Moise Kean being loaned out to Paris Saint-Germain has seen Everton step up their pursuit for another striker.
We’ve been linked with Callum Wilson, Emmanuel Dennis, Odsonne Edouard, Patrik Schick, Hee-chan Hwang, Hirving Lozano, Martin Braithwaite, Andrea Belotti, Sardar Azmoun, Victor Osimhen and Arkadiusz Milik among others, but talkSPORT say our sights are set firmly on Josh King.
The Premier League and European transfer window shut on October 5, but we have four more days to sign players from the Football League. King is still available as a result, but we’ll have to battle West Ham United to procure his signature.
Kean decision forced us to act
It made little sense to loan out Kean without a replacement being lined up. The 20-year-old didn’t start many games under Carlo Ancelotti, but he’d featured in four of our six games this season and was useful in a subsidiary role.
With only Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison in attack, Carlo Ancelotti must bring in another striker before time runs out. We’re putting all our eggs into one basket and hoping he’ll pick us over West Ham. It’s a gamble.
How much will King cost?
According to the Guardian, Bournemouth are requesting £17.5m for King, £7.5m less than Manchester United offered back in January. With one year left on his deal and no chance of him extending his contract, the Cherries need to cash in on King while he still has value.
The 28-year-old earns approximately £45k-per-week/£2.34m-a-year at Dean Court so he wouldn’t break the bank – 15 players in our first-team are on more money than King.
The Guardian said days ago that while West Ham are keen to sign the Norwegian international, they’re unwilling to spend so much money on his transfer fee, so the door might be open to us.
King has only amassed 23 minutes of football in all competitions this season, but he’s hit double figures for goals in two of his previous last four campaigns and has attracted interest from a lot clubs.
In other news, what’s the latest on Richarlison’s injury status?