Leeds United are a side poised to climb into the Premier League. They sit on top of the Championship pile, they have a seven-point buffer to the chasing playoff pack and they face games against the current bottom three sides in the league. Kevin Phillips, speaking to Football Insider, tips one player who’d add gloss to their side in England’s top-tier.
That player – Bournemouth striker Joshua King. The 46-cap/17-goal Norwegian international has been at the south coast side since signing from Blackburn in 2015 on a free transfer. He’d gotten his grounding in English football at Manchester United after joining them from Norwegian side Valarenga.
Since joining the Cherries, King has made 163 appearances for them, scoring 48 goals and providing 15 assists. 154 of these appearances, 46 of these goals and 13 of these assists have come in the Premier League. That total includes a haul of four goals and two assists this season in 19 games.
In conversation with Football Insider, former England striker Phillips says that Elland Road would be the ideal place for King to continue his time in English football. Football Insider writes that Bournemouth may be willing to sell this summer rather than risk losing him on a free next year when his current deal runs out.
Sky Sports reported that the Premier League’s ‘top-six’ were interested in landing the £14.4million rated striker but Phillips sees that only leading to a demotion to the bench for the 28-year-old King. Rather sarcastically he says: “Very exciting player but I am unsure whether he [King] would be happy playing second-fiddle to Harry Kane.”
For Phillips, a better move for King would be to West Yorkshire and Elland Road. Philips adds: “King needs to go somewhere where he will play often – Leeds springs to mind. If he goes there he will be their number one striker and play every week.”
Manchester United tabled a £25million bid in January but that figure will likely come down due to the Norwegian striker entering the final year of his current deal and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on future transfer markets.
