Exclusive: McAvennie wants West Ham to sign King from Bournemouth in January
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie wants to see West Ham make another move for Bournemouth forward Joshua King in the upcoming January transfer window.
In October, the Daily Echo reported that the Hammers tabled a £13million bid for the 28-year-old but the offers was rejected by the Cherries.
Since the start of the season, King has made just six Championship appearances for Bournemouth and only three of them have been starts.
West Ham have also been linked again with signing the Norway international in the January transfer window with Claret & Hugh reporting a structured deal that is paid in instalments could be on the cards.
McAvennie originally wanted Callum Wilson to join the Hammers after Bournemouth’s relegated last season but he joined Newcastle instead.
However, the ex-Irons forward would be more than happy if King was snapped up next month.
“I’d like them to get the boy King from Bournemouth,” McAvennie told West Ham Zone.
“I wanted Wilson to come in but he’s gone to Newcastle.
“But King is a player. He can score goals in the Premier League and his movement is great.”
King proved himself to be more than capable of scoring in the Premier League while the Cherries were in the top-flight.
The former Manchester United and Blackburn striker has scored 28 times in 161 top-flight appearances but has barely played in the Championship since Bournemouth’s relegation.
If West Ham want to sign King in January then they need to be sure that he can hit the ground running because we’ve seen a lot of mid-season additions for the Hammers who’ve simply failed to deliver.
David Moyes managed to make some great signings last January in Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek so the Irons boss can be trusted to improve his squad next month.
Will King improve things?
Michail Antonio and Sebastien Haller are the club’s only real strikers in the senior squad but Antonio has regular injury issues and Haller blows hot and cold whenever he plays.
King has been consistently among the goals for Bournemouth in recent seasons so having him as a third option up front could be a clever piece of business by the Hammers as long as they don’t find themselves getting ripped off.
In other West Ham news, this player has said goodbye to his team-mates ahead of a January move to the London Stadium.