Frank McAvennie: West Ham should have coughed up cash for Josh King – Exclusive
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 believes West Ham should have signed a striker in the January transfer window and claims Joshua King should have been within their reach.
King, 29, signed for Everton on deadline day for a nominal fee with the Norway international’s deal at Bournemouth due to expire at the end of the season.
The former Manchester United player made his debut for Everton on Wednesday night when he came off the bench in their 2-1 win away at Leeds.
McAvennie has heard rumours about King’s attitude but maintains that he should have been someone the Hammers pushed to sign.
“They should have got someone in long ago,” McAvennie told West Ham Zone.
“I’m told Josh King doesn’t have the right temperament or the right character. I’m not bothered about all that.
“I don’t know the boy or his character but West Ham should’ve just paid for him. Bournemouth would have taken anything for him because at the end of the season they were going to get nothing for him.”
It remains to be seen how King will fare at Everton but judging by the fact he was used as a substitute on Wednesday, just a couple of days after signing for the Toffees, suggests that Carlo Ancelotti has the Norwegian in his plans.
While Jesse Lingard hit the ground running on his West Ham debut against Aston Villa on Wednesday, it is difficult to see why David Moyes didn’t sign another centre-forward.
Sebastien Haller’s move to Ajax left Michail Antonio has the only recognised striker in the senior squad and even then, Antonio hasn’t been a natural striker for most of his career.
Moyes does have options to step in if Antonio does get injured.
Andriy Yarmolenko can play up front while youngster Mipo Odubeko is also someone Moyes can call upon but it’s becoming more and more of a common theme for some Premier League clubs to play without a striker in their side.
Will West Ham do that? Could we see an attacking force of Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals, Jesse Lingard and Jarrod Bowen at some point this season?
We’d be very interested to see how that works out but let’s hope Antonio doesn’t get injured again because he is prone to a niggle.
In other West Ham news, here are three things we learned about the win versus Aston Villa.