Interest in a swap deal for Bournemouth's Josh King

An interesting rumour that we are talking to Bournemouth about a swap deal for Josh King. Jonjoe Kenny going the other way as a makeweight. They are enquiring about Branthwaite too, but no chance the club will sell him. It would be an excellent loan deal though for all parties.

Maybe some mileage in this one.

Tony. Any deal that involves some form of financial return for Jonjoe Kenny is a great deal for us. He’s simply not good enough.

Josh King is a dependable striker with good premier league experience and decent quality. I’m not against bringing him in as back up for DCL with the prospect of developing a younger player or bringing in a young talent to develop. I think any deal to bring a striker in will very much depend on Cenk going, which I hope he does. Nothing against Cenk but it’s best for all if he goes.

In Josh King as back up for DCL if is very much like for like in terms of style. Decent physical presence, mobile and hard working. Finishing mainly within 12 yards of the goal.

Personally I’d like to see us look at other options. A different type of forward. One that can back up DCL but also play with him and support him.

I’ve said for a long time that we should look to Domenico Berardi. This would be big money but I think he’s a player who could really take us to the next level.

Would seem like a no brainer but am curious why do they not want to keep Josh?

Tommy, Berardi would be an exciting signing, looks like the type of player who would adapt to the Premier League too. Ancelotti and his Italian backroom staff they will be keeping tabs on him for sure. Surprised none of the big Italian clubs have moved for him.

Brian, his contract is ending in June so Bournemouth are trying to get a fee or some leverage from him while they can.

Looks like very good sense to me. Yes please.

Brian, he is out of contract at the end of the season, better to get something for him now or money off a transfer fee for one of our poorer squad players.

I wouldn't be selling branthwaite. He looked a prospect for me but I suppose Holgate and Godfrey are young enough to be a potential long term partnership at centre back.

King in, Kenny out... okay so far; Branthwaite? He's one to keep, well maybe a loan if we really must.

We should've bought King the day Lukaku left.

Josh King has played 8 games this season for Bournemouth and not scored any goals. What makes anyone think he would be good enough for us?!

If we're going to push for top 4, we need to be bringing in players that will improve us. He's no better than Tosun in my opinion.

He's 29 and his goal-scoring record is not good. Short-term buy.

Let's go and buy a 29-year-old Championship striker who can't even get into the team. Are you having a laugh?

King scored twice yesterday, for someone who can't get into the Bournemouth team? He's disillusioned at Bournemouth, especially with them being relegated, and his contract is up in June.

I think King has proved himself in the Premier League, good all-around striker and definitely offers more than Tosun. A swap deal for Kenny would be good business, I'd keep Braithwaite.

Moyes is also trying to get him as a replacement for Haller.

Josh fucking King!!!!

We play one up front. We can't give him much of the ball lately. We don't need a Championship player who can't score in the Championship.

I forgot to mention if we are in talks with Bournemouth over a swap deal, why not make an offer for David Brooks, he would definitely add pace and skill to our midfield.

King would be a good versatile band-aid for 2 or 3 seasons until Ancelotti/Brands finds us another good flying winger and a 2nd striker.

Maybe we can pay Bournemouth £1.5M a year for 3 years to get the transfer done on the last transfer window day, or 5m over 4 years. Got players going out over the next year, and may get a bonus like Bolasie to Middlesborough to reduce money out to fund this.

On a side note, I recall Gordon was good in the U23s in clips roaming in the number 10 areas; sometimes going to the wing too when he wanted. I think he might be good in the number 10 role for us in the future, rather than just left-wing. Plus he can finish on the edge of the box, can slide a pass when centrally or cross from the touchline.

I'd like to see if he can try a few games there. If not in the first team, then go on loan to a club that wants him as a 10 and not a winger only. Next season he comes back to play multiple positions when either of Gomes or Siggy moves on, and James gradually plays less minutes per games due to age over a long season.
Effectively, Gordon becomes our very own Josh King.

Wasn't King on the verge of joining West Ham before the last window closed but clubs couldn't agree on the fee? Well now they have have funds from the sale of Haller so I expect King to end up there.

King has had injury problems and just coming back to form. He is a quick physically strong player and will score goals in the Premier League, he has done it before in a poor team.

Obviously Branthwaite would not be part of it but maybe on loan to sweeten the deal. For a relatively small fee, he would be an absolute bargain.

It's a stick-or-twist situation: Do we stick with Tosun, who took his goal nicely yesterday but is not good enough? Or replace him with King who obviously doesn't want Championship football but is out of favour anyway.

He may do as a stopgap as cover for Calvert-Lewin but, at 29, may not want to sit on the bench.

Personally I think we should spend good money on a class player who can push Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin all the way if we want to progress up the table.

Tom, at the moment I think any player could push DCL and Richie the way they are playing.

I'd take King for Kenny any day of the week. Not many other options available in January and he offers so much more than Tosun.

I'm very worried about today's links to Felipe Anderson though.

Valid question, Tom (17). I don't think Josh King is that much of an upgrade on Tosun. If Calvert-Lewin were to be out for a few games, would be rather have Tosun or King? I would say Tosun, simply because Carlo seems to rate him, having seen him in practice.

We need big upgrades in some key areas - mainly the right side needs some big upgrades - right-back, right midfield, right-sided forward. My choices are: Aarons, Buendia, Sarr (respectively for those 3 positions). But, I am sure there are better options out there.

As we saw yesterday, Tosun doesn't knit the attack together well but does finish the few chances he gets quite well. King is better at being the focal point of an attack, running channels etc. King is probably the more useful player to have as cover – but I doubt we'd be remotely interested if his contract wasn't almost up.

I really hope this happens. If Tosun and Bernard go, King can come in and cover their 2 positions, so this actually makes a lot of sense. We need to offload Kenny and Branthwaite can go there on loan. They play good football. Everyone's a winner!

King is definitely an upgrade on Tosun. He is strong, has pace and covers a lot more ground. He suits our style of play more and can also play out on the wing

Kunai #15, West Ham have sold Haller but Bournemouth have to pay Blackburn 20% of any fee. King isn't going to cost much because he's nearly out of contract so a swap for Kenny could well appeal to Bournemouth more.

It's a stick or twist situation. Do we stick with Tosun who took his goal nicely yesterday but is not good enough or replace him with King who obviously doesn't want Championship football but is out of favour anyway.

He may do as a stopgap as cover for Calvert-Lewin but at 29 may not want to sit on the bench.

Personally I think we should spend good money on a class player who can push Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin all the way if we want to progress up the table.

There are pitfalls for us with King. He's a 28-year-old in the last 6 months of his contract, looking for the last big one. So he is going to be playing off as many clubs as he can to get the highest wages possible.

I reckon he will want at least £80,000 and at least a 3- probably a 4-year deal. That's an awful lot of money to pay for someone on their last contract, we know from bitter experience how a player's form can fall off a cliff once they get their feet under the table.

Kevin, if you could look at it that we need to improve our FFP. If King can cover the squad places of two outgoings in Bernard and Tosun, They're on something like £130,000 and £70,000 respectively, we'd actually be saving quite a bit of money. We'd also be offloading Kenny's wages.

Kevin, I'm sorry but you can't assume what a player wants. He could be happy with £50,000 a week and a 3-year contract.

If it doesn't work out, he would probably be easier to shift than Kenny and a lot more teams look for strikers more than right-backs.

No better than what we currently have. Our problem with putting the ball in the net is quality of service and creativity. If we wish to be considered top 4/6 and European challengers, we need to be buying that level of player or someone capable of reaching that level.

If we got King in cheap, and manage to get a fee for Tosun and Bernard, then it would go a little way to balancing the books and add more goal threat and physicality than the pair combined.

I like Bernard but he doesn't get enough assists or goals when he is in the team. Tosun hasn't fitted the style of play under 3 managers now. He isn't worth the space on the bench.

King can be a right handful on his day. I am surprised he stayed at Bournemouth so long. On a cheap deal, he would offer cover for Calvert-Lewin. Use for one season and sell on whilst he still has value.

A straight swap for Kenny would be an absolute no-brainer. As Richard and Jim say, we could also probably move him on in 12 months, whilst we could get stuck with Kenny. I don't see a queue of clubs looking at him. His stock was at it's highest after the Schalke loan, but no one came in for him in the summer.

It's all speculation, who knows what his attitude will be? As a proven goalscorer at Premier League level in the last 6 months before his last contract, of one thing we can be sure: he will want serious wonga.

And the thing that has pissed me off most about Everton in the last few years, is our collection of late 20s somethings multi millionaires who manifestly have downed tools. The warning lights again are here with this one, just saying. And once they're here, they are murder to shift.

Christy @13, now you are talking in regards to David Brooks, that is the one we should be looking at and try and throw one of our players in, as bait.

King would be a very good reserve option for Calvert-Lewin at an affordable price.

We want to swap a sellable asset with a player we could get for free in 6 months and who’s ability is questionable - and increase our ever expanding wage bill by probably over-paying because of his contract situation.

Have we not learnt from Bernard, Delph etc. We’ll be stuck with an 80k p/w reserve for 3 years who can’t challenge DCL and will stand in the way of any youth player looking to make the step up.

Kevin #33. Kenny isn't a sellable asset. I'm amazed Bournemouth even want him! He's too slow and Carlo wouldn't even play him when we had no recognised RBs. That's hardly a ringing endorsement for perspective buyers. He's the next Matty Pennington.

King can play in multiple positions. It's a good bet that Tosun and Bernard are going. They're on over £200,000 a week between them. King can cover both of their squad places so your argument is redundant about an increased wage bill.

Where were we when Cavani was going for free?

Tom Bowers @ 17

In the right formation, Tosun is plenty good enough, I'd say he's more of a natural scorer than Calvert-Lewin. It's getting the ball to him in those positions he can use it, that's the problem.

Tomn #35, we were not in the Champions League.

No way Cavani would have gone to a mid-table team.

Christy (13) - The problem is that Bournemouth desperately want to keep Brooks to spearhead their promotion charge, whereas King has one foot out the door and will be gone either now or in the summer. So King will inevitably end up being sold for well under his actual market value, while Brooks would likely cost north of £25 million and is not really for sale - hence why we are being linked with King. We were heavily linked with Brooks back when he was at Sheffield United, and it is a shame we did not buy him then.

I’d be happy to have King, but not on wages that are problematic. We have a poor recent record of picking up players at the tail-end of their contracts who end up as fringe players that we cannot subsequently offload as nobody else would be happy to pay them the wages that we do.

Tom, Tosun has never fitted our style of play. He might be a good finisher in the box, but he's slow, doesn't cover enough ground and can't hold the ball up. He can't do the lone striker role.

We should have given him a run in a front two, but it's never happened. Palace will be perfect for him. They often go with a 4-4-2 formation.

Gavin Johnson @ 39

Completely agree, my thoughts exactly.

It's a pity we couldn't fit him in.

Spot on, Gavin. Despite his goal yesterday, sadly he offered nothing. I hope he put himself in the shop window. Seems a nice guy but isn't the quality or skillset we need. Pacy creators is a must.

I thought Tosun was a bit of a revelation yesterday. He took his goal beautifully and with great composure.

I also thought he was extremely unlucky to have been judged offside for the second one he put in the net, it would appear that his head was offside only because an opponent's arm was not counted as playing him onside. He also managed a header which missed but which was from a very difficult angle and too high.

In fact, I'd say his conversion rate of chances was rather better than Calvert-Lewin's at the moment.

We've now got a situation where many of the players shine in one position and stink in all the others, Godfrey being an exception. Perhaps Calvert-Lewin and Tosun in a joint attack would get the campaign going again, especially since we've found it very hard to score against "parked buses" which we've seen rather a lot of lately. The question would be whom to drop, and at present I'd consider that to be Richarlison.

So we'd have Calvert-Lewin and Tosun i attack (with Nkounkou if yesterday was any indication) against the poor teams, and Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison (with Richarlison on the left) against the good ones.

King would be an upgrade on Tosun, for the reasons Robert (21) cites. I would assume Branthwaite is untouchable, but Kenny has no future at the club. When you're supposed to be Coleman's backup, but don't even make the bench half the time while Coleman is hurt, that says it all, really.

King is more mobile than Tosun and so would fit more into the current blues style with only playing one up front. I think it would make sense to replace Tosun and Bernard with King because as has been pointed out he can fill in at both positions.

On top of this, if it only takes a swap deal with Kenny then it really makes both footballing and financial sense. While I do like Kenny, we do have Mason who can fill in at right-back hopefully until we sign Aarons. I really don't think Kenny has been given any opportunity, to be honest.

We definitely need a back-up striker for Calvert-Lewin and, with no Moise Kean, we have struggled because, as good as Calvert-Lewin is, he cannot take 100% of the load 100% of the time. I think this makes a lot of sense so let's get it done and quickly!!

I was surprised Kenny, wasn’t used yesterday Bill, and thought then that maybe Jonjoe, might be on his way out the club, because he’s just stagnating at the minute. I was thinking that he might end up at Norwich with Dowell, because Everton have been linked with their young right back, but one thing is certain and that is Kenny needs to be playing regular first team football, because he’s played nowhere near enough in the last few seasons. Is it any wonder that some kids never develop?

Tony #45, Kenny got his chance with 34 games in the Bundesliga last season. That's plenty of first-team football. He hasn't failed to develop, he's developed as far as he can. He just isn't talented enough.

He’s 23 Mike, and I’m talking about from when he first got a game, after Martinez got sacked, which was four and a half seasons ago.

He never played enough in the three years since his debut, goes to Germany and plays 34 matches, and comes back to Everton and doesn’t play again, although I don’t know what’s happened because he was doing okay in those League cup games until he got injured against West Ham.

You might be right, he might not be good enough, but look at how the young American kid is improving at Fulham, now he’s been playing “regular” first team football for a few seasons, because when you’re young, the only way to improve is by playing imo mate?

Didn't Shalke want Kenny back? Couldn't have been that bad. He can still improve and have a good career, just not with us. We have Besic and Bollasie to find homes for. Plus Kenny. Plus Gordon. Plus Branthwaite.

I am not convinced we bring anyone in unless Bernard and Tosun want to leave. I like the Jamaican forward, Leon Bailey, but he won't come cheap and not in January.

Dele Alli must leave Spurs, as must Winks, so will be loaned out... doubt to us. King will be free soon so, unless Tosun goes, l can't see it. He is a good player and will make our bench stronger, more mobile than Tosun, and a greater variety of goals in his locker.

We need more from Davies, Gomes and Delph or else they will be added to the naughty list which grows longer each year.

Having said all that, let's go out and find some quality now. We could do with the help.

Isn't King just the Kenny of the forward world, not quite good enough to be a starter in the Premier League but an okay player nonetheless, I'd say top of the Championship is about his heavy.

Been out on loan all over Europe and the Championship, pretty awful goals to game ratio and at 28 isn't going to get any better. Not exactly injury-free either.

All he would do would be to block the progress of some of the young lads faced with a thankless task of trying to get a game under Ancelotti.

So it's a No from me.

I’ve clearly been watching a different player! Kenny has had a few iffy games for us but has also had some very good games too. He would improve given a decent run of games as he showed in Germany.
The attitude towards him reminds me of how Hibbert was treated by fans before he became something of a cult hero for some.
Carlo clearly doesn’t rate him and he should therefore be sold to raise some cash but for people to write him off as not fit for the premier league could be premature. I hope the lad makes it and if he goes he will give everything to his new club which is more than half our squad currently do.

IMO King is a decent backup to the the front two; in addition he can play anywhere in a front 2 or 3 so he's a lot more versatile than Toscun. Obviously a short term option, but it'll do for me

Perhaps they ca concentrate on a RB and a ATM with a bit of pace

Whilst Everton are still up the table and close to the top pointswise it remains that most of us can see that they are still not playing that well.

It's easy to feel (given our past experiences ) that we will end up mid-table again given the shoddy performances.

We seem to have a decent squad in most areas but the genuine belief and intensity when in possession is missing hence why teams like Rotherham can play so well against us.

We can all pick apart certain players of our own choosing and argue all day about who should go and who should be persevered with longer.

The bottom line is that players like Tosun, Kenny and others even, one or two who are starters most weeks are not up to snuff. Tosun can score goals but is limited as were a few of his predecessors over the last ten seasons who came and went after a few games.

For the rest of this season it is vital that Carlo molds a squad of 18 players that he believes will take Everton to a new level of consistency and seriously challenge the likes of City, RS and Manure for trophies.

In that regard new signings are a must especially adept in the offensive third of the pitch. Some midfield players are still not doing the job in support of DCL and Richarlison. One goal every blue moon from the midfielders is simply not good enough !!

Whilst Everton are still up the table and close to the top pointswise it remains that most of us can see that they are still not playing that well.

It's easy to feel (given our past experiences ) that we will end up mid-table again given the shoddy performances.

We seem to have a decent squad in most areas but the genuine belief and intensity when in possession is missing hence why teams like Rotherham can play so well against us.

We can all pick apart certain players of our own choosing and argue all day about who should go and who should be persevered with longer.

The bottom line is that players like Tosun, Kenny and others even, one or two who are starters most weeks are not up to snuff. Tosun can score goals but is limited as were a few of his predecessors over the last ten seasons who came and went after a few games.

For the rest of this season it is vital that Carlo molds a squad of 18 players that he believes will take Everton to a new level of consistency and seriously challenge the likes of City, RS and Manure for trophies.

In that regard new signings are a must especially adept in the offensive third of the pitch. Some midfield players are still not doing the job in support of DCL and Richarlison. One goal every blue moon from the midfielders is simply not good enough !!

If Dom is going to be out for a while and with a lack of alternatives, perhaps this will be pushed through in a hurry now.

Yes to King, better than Bernard, Gordon, Sigurdsson, Iwobi. I would love Brooks too.

We need better attacking options this transfer window.

I like Kenny. As an attacking option, he is our best right-footed crosser of the ball from open play. How he didn't get told to simply whip crosses in for Calvert-Lewin when playing, I don't know.

A little slow for a modern-day attacking full-back but he's a £10M plus player. Depends on how the team set up and play etc.

Digne got roasted against Rotherham which showed us all how vulnerable our defenders are against pace.

In that sense, Godfrey has proved to be a great buy.

Sensible acquisition on the right terms.

Powerful ball-carrier more suited to our system and the Premier League than our other options on the right with good end product and ability to play 9 too.

Tom 52

Teams like Rotherham playing against us in the cup is the highlight of their year. They still lost.

Christy (13), totally agree re Brooks. The lad suffered a bad injury last season, before which he was being eyed by every top club.

Christy, Brooks is a good shout.
Would sooner take a pint on Origi than King.

Good point Ray. Our goal difference is already low compared to teams we want to dislodge.

Tell you one player who'd be cracking to have in our squad: Ademola Lookman oh well

Not for me personally.

Lookman? Failed at pretty much everywhere he has been. He even went to a different country / league and ended up on the bench.

The lad seems to have an attitude problem from what I see and read.

Joe - our goal difference has been a problem for a while. I did an article about it last year which (as with most of my articles) attracted about 3 comments. Anyway, the point was that to break top 6, let alone top 4, we needed to add about 20 goals scored and concede about 10 goals less. This was based on statistics going back about 5 years.

I've lost track of quite where we stand but have the impression that our defence has been fairly mean, but the attack is still light. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

The point is, we might fall short ultimately if we can't score more goals. Unless you are lucky, you can't just win game after game 1-0 (or maybe you can if you're Italian?).

More goals would certainly help though so Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison need to be at their best.

Sell Bernard for whatever we can get for him, let PSG have Moise Keane for £31M, get whatever we can for Tosun. Bring in Zaha and that gives us cover on both wings and Richarlison can play up front as cover for Calvert-Lewin. It also gives us more pace, direct running assists, and goals.

Robert 63,

I always take the view that goal difference is usually a better indicator of a team's quality than league position. You often find that teams who overperform one year, often do it with a poor goal difference – like when we finished 4th. We weren't the 4th best team that year in terms of quality but we managed to grind out results, the teams below us with far superior goal differences finished ahead of us the next season because they had genuine quality.

If you look at the table at the moment (Villa are the anomaly here) both Spurs and Chelsea are below us with better goal differences, they will undoubtedly climb the league. We might finish above them this year but they will be there or thereabouts next year. We do need to improve our goal difference to match them in the top 6 to prove we belong there.

When we played Bournemouth at Goodison, I recall he nutmegged one of our defenders in the box, and was a constant pest on the left wing. The guy is big, strong, has pace and has a trick or two (which Calvert-Lewin doesn't have!). He has to be a better option than shoving Sigurdsson up top. Really, even Palace have Eze, Zaha, Ayew, Benteke and Batshuayi!

Robert 63, I remember the article. I may have been one of the three comments! It holds true that we need more goals to cement our position or go even better. Richarlison has goals in him, Carlo has to try to coax his best form back. Iwobi has more goals in him too and should have had two on Tuesday. James is being used as a provider, but he too can get more goals. A young mobile tenacious midfielder with some goals in him would be welcome in the summer.

It looks like the Zirkzee loan is happening, it will be very interesting see if he can make an impact from the bench or playing alongside DCL from the start in some matches.

Rumours that Josh King is asking for £120,000 pw. and is prepared to wait until June to move on a free if necessary. At those rates, there has to be better options, especially in the summer window.

Tony, I agree... but remember little Bernie is purportedly on £120,000 per week.

If Josh King really does want £120k pw, then no chance. Such wages must be reserved for truly top class; beyond that we must be strict with what wages we pay.

As with Bernard, and other like Bolasie, Besic, Tosun, and beyond... we get stuck with players not because other clubs won't pay for them, but because they won't pay their wages.

He is currently on £45k per week. I'd say to him you can have that and the chance to work at Everton with Carlo, James, Digne, Calvert-Lewin etc etc. Depends how much he values playing in the Premier League over money. High time clubs stopped being fleeced by agents.

Why not Bolasie. Besic and Callum Connolly plus say 1-2 million which might cover their wages until the end of the season. Mind you, I'm not that keen on the bloke but it's two birds in one deal.

Be surprised if we manage to sell anyone to be honest. We will need to give them away. We shouldn't even be giving King a pay rise. Hopefully we will see sense. Match his wages at Bournemouth and like Spurs, laid his contract with performance-based bonuses.

The reason top clubs aren't interested in King is quite simple: he isn't good enough for a team who want to compete at the high end of the Premier League. Yes, we need someone who can give DCL some competition, but if we are serious in wanting to challenge for a top 4 spot I don't think King has the quality we need.

I think we should remember that although there has been a slight relaxation in the FFP rules at some point they will be reinforced and we must be very close to transgressing those rules. That's why Brands has said he is more interested in getting players out the door.

Bernard's  £120k per week are high because he was a free transfer, therefore it could conceivably be £80k with his signing-on fee spread over the length of his contract, say £40k.

If King was that good, there would have been a lot more suitors by now. This is the second window for him to move on and nothing. Only a relegation-threatened club would consider signing him and the same seems to apply for David Brooks.

The team in which they play are relegated and the "stars" are quickly snaffled up in the wage reduction fire sale, but King and Brooks are only ever the subject of desperate journos. Keep well away, we have enough deadwood to get rid off and King would sooner rather than later be in the same category!

According to reports, this guy is looking for £120,000 a week wages! He can go sling his hook as far as I'm concerned.

Big clubs already have better reserve strikers than King. That's why they're not interested.

I suspect we're not really interested either - and will probably get Milik on a free in summer.

In the meantime we'll have to make do. It may cost us league places, but the rebuilding strategy goes beyond the 20/21 season.

As an aside, hardly any clubs across Europe have done business this window - which is a recurring theme now. Makes me wonder whether it should just be scrapped.

Milik going to Marseille I think.