Newcastle United are pushing to secure the free agent signing of long-term target Josh King, according to the Northern Echo.
The piece claims that the 29-year-old was one of Steve Bruce’s ‘leading targets’ just last summer, leaving him seriously interested in bringing him to St James’ Park now he’s available for nothing following his release from Everton.
The Echo report that we will enter formal talks with King’s representatives in the ‘next few weeks’, and it’s thought those talks could be fruitful given he shares the same agent with Joelinton – something that won’t do us any harm given head of recruitment Steve Nickson has ‘strong ties’ with the group after playing a big part in the Brazilian’s £40m move from Hoffenheim.
King also knows the likes of Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Matt Rtichie very well from their time together with the Cherries – something that could help convince him to sign.
Despite a difficult spell at Goodison Park – where he failed to score in 11 sub appearances – it’s fair to say the Norwegian striker has Premier League pedigree, with him bagging a total of 43 goals and 13 assists in his four seasons prior at Bournemouth.
He’s not a world-beater and would arrive on the back of a difficult few years, however he’s versatile, would be an upgrade on Gayle and a player who improves our squad without having to tap into the limited budget likely to be available to Bruce this summer.
The Chronicle said we’d be offered the chance to sign him just a few days ago, and it seems we’ll be pushing hard to snap him up on a free if these latest reports are to be believed.
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