Marcel Brands must urge Carlo Ancelotti to unleash Joshua King far more than he ever fielded Cenk Tosun, after Everton signed the AFC Bournemouth striker on Deadline Day.
What’s the word?
According to talkSPORT presenter Alex Crook, King’s last-ditch move to Merseyside saw the Toffees agree to sign the Cherries forward on an initial six-month contract.
Everton will have an option to extend the Norwegian’s time at Goodison Park at the end of the season, with the transfer potentially worth up to £5m.
The Blues paid Bournemouth a nominal sum to finalise a deal in the final hours of Deadline Day, after the Vitality Stadium outfit sought to secure a fee for a striker who was set to be out of contract when his £45,000-per-week deal expired in the summer.
King will provide Ancelotti with vital cover for Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Everton after Tosun was allowed to re-join Besiktas on loan until the end of the season, having failed to secure a regular starting berth under a succession of managers.
Reports by Norwegian television channel TV2 had claimed King decided to join Everton over Fulham after Bournemouth accepted offers from both Premier League sides, but the Blues first had to offload Tosun and his wages to afford the £10m-rated beast.
King is yet to score a league goal in a heavily disrupted campaign for the 29-year-old, having sustained a thigh injury in pre-season before later testing positive for coronavirus and missing almost two months.
Ancelotti must trust King
King found his eye for the goal in the FA Cup with a brace against Oldham Athletic and a solo strike in the fourth round against Crawley Town last month, while providing assists in each tie. Showing that he has not lost his edge in front of the net, which saw the Manchester United product score 48 Premier League goals with Bournemouth over five seasons.
Everton’s Director of Football Brands must now urge Ancelotti to place his backing in the 51-cap Norway international, having seen the Italian only field Tosun for 43 minutes in the top-flight this term.
Brands has put his faith into King offering Ancelotti a greater attacking threat than Tosun could ever bring to the table, with the Turkey international only scoring nine Premier League goals since January 2018.
The Dutchman has also struck what could prove to be a masterstroke by including clauses that will allow Everton to sign King to a long-term contract in the summer, without having to pay the £15m Bournemouth were allegedly wanting for the versatile forward who their former head coach Eddie Howe lauded as the “complete package”.
But that will prove worthless if King does not feature, despite having the potential to offer the goals form the bench that could secure the Toffees European football, which Ancelotti did not previously have.
Everton have not seen a substitute score a single goal in the Premier League all season, an unwanted stat which only goal-shy duo Burnley and West Bromwich Albion can also lay claim to.
If 11-goal striker Calvert-Lewin has not found the net, the Toffees also struggle, with the Blues only scoring seven in their last seven games, running back to when the 23-year-old last scored.
King does not have to do much to offer more of a threat than Tosun but if he’s to get the goals the Merseyside outfit have been lacking, Ancelotti will have to back him.
AND in other news, the exit of a £28k-p/w dud is great news for a “gifted” Everton outcast…
