Newcastle United are ‘still in the race’ to sign AFC Bournemouth forward Joshua King despite the Norwegian’s agent holding talks with Tottenham Hotspur, according to the Chronicle.
King is one of the players expected to leave the Vitality Stadium this summer alongside Callum Wilson following Bournemouth’s return to the Championship, with the south coast side now needing to slash their wage bill after a five-year stay in the Premier League.
Bournemouth’s situation has led to an array of sides sounding out their chances of landing King, who had a hand in 10 top-flight goals (six scored, four assisted) over 26 appearances last season and would count as a homegrown player.
Steve Bruce is a known admirer of the 28-year-old and had hoped to consider King as one potential option to solve a priority position of his, having decided that signing a new striker with Premier League experience is a must this summer.
Newcastle chiefs had previously faced competition for King’s signature from Brighton and Hove Albion, while Everton and Burnley have also been monitoring the situation with Bournemouth understood to be chasing between £10m and £15million.
Interest from Tottenham Hotspur now appears to be our most prevalent rival, with claims that members of the Spurs hierarchy have met with King’s agent, Jim Solbakken, in London last Thursday to discuss a potential move to Jose Mourinho’s side.
But nothing final has been decided yet and Newcastle remain in the race to sign King, as the forward looks set to leave the Vitality having also entered into the final year of his £45,000-per-week contract and is not expected to agree to extend those terms.
Would you spend circa £15m to sign King this summer?
Yes
No
Manchester United had submitted a £20m offer in January as the Old Trafford outfit made late efforts to sign King on Deadline Day, but opted against lodging a second, improved bid.
Newcastle chiefs offering the £10-15m Bournemouth are now believed to be requesting would be wise to do so before Tottenham can finalise a move, as King would be a great Premier League-proven addition to Bruce’s offence.
The forward enjoyed an average 0.8 shots and 1.2 key balls per game in the top-flight last term, while his chances created four further big opportunities for Bournemouth to score that were not converted, per SofaScore data.
King also managed 36.2 touches a match, with which he made 2.0 successful dribbles, won 3.7 ground duels and delivered 0.2 accurate crosses, while only being caught offside 0.3 times, never committing an error that led to a shot or goal, being a confident penalty taker and being able to play anywhere across the line of attack.