West Ham United journalist Roshane Thomas has shared some details on the east London club’s transfer link to AFC Bournemouth forward Josh King.
This comes after Thomas recently made an appearance on The Athletic’s West Ham-themed podcast U Irons, where he spoke about the biggest talking points concerning David Moyes’ side at the moment.
On the topic of King, who West Ham were linked with during the previous summer transfer window, Thomas had this to say on the matter.
He said: “The Josh King rumour – it’s not going away, it’s still there. When I compare and contrast Josh King to Sebastien Haller, obviously [they’re] very different in the sense that Josh King is more versatile; he can play on the flank, he can play up front.
“I think all-round, he is more of a consistent goalscorer than Sebastien Haller. He has a similar work rate to [Michail] Antonio, which is good, pressing defenders, which we sort of need.
“That’s a rumour which hasn’t gone away and that could be something West Ham look to do in January.”
Back in early October, it was reported that West Ham were “weighing up” whether or not to offer a transfer fee of £17.5 million to Bournemouth for the Norwegian.
King signed to Bournemouth on a free transfer from Blackburn Rovers back in the summer of 2015.
Since then, the 28-year-old, who is currently valued at £11.7 million, has made a total of 175 appearances for Bournemouth, in which he has managed to rack up a total of 50 goals and 17 assists (per Transfermarkt).
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TIF Thoughts on Roshane Thomas’ comments on West Ham’s link to King…
With Thomas claiming that a move for King “could be something” that West Ham may look to do in the upcoming January transfer window, this suggests that the club have not completely moved on from the idea of signing the attacker.
Also, with 48 of King’s goals for Bournemouth coming in the Premier League, he has shown that he has what it takes to be a threat in front of goal in the top flight.
In our view, with Michail Antonio having his fair share of recent injury issues in the past and Sebastien Haller only managing to score two goals in eight league appearances so far this season, adding King to West Ham’s attacking line may be a good option for the club to explore in January.