Watford Opinion: Hornets should raid Bournemouth for Joshua King
According to the Calciomercato, Watford are ready to complete a summer raid on Premier League rivals Bournemouth for star striker Joshua King.
The move, if it materializes, would eclipse the £18.5 million that they paid for Andre Gray a couple of years back, with the Independent reporting a few months back that King was valued at close to £30million.
King has enjoyed another fruitful season at the south coast for Eddie Howe’s side and has been a key contributor for the Cherries with goals. The 27-year-old Norwegian international has racked up 11 goals and 3 assists from 28 appearances in the Premier League for Bournemouth.
He registered a career-best tally of 16 Premier League goals in the 2016-17 season and there is every chance that he might replicate that feat once again this term. Since his move to Bournemouth in 2015, King has accumulated 43 goals and 13 assists from 136 appearances for the Cherries in all competitions.
The Norwegian has formed a fearsome front trio with Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser up front and has arguably been one of the standout performers for the Cherries this season. Teamed up alongside Wilson in a front two, King has carved out a reputation for himself as a fast and agile striker who is capable of finding the net on a regular basis.
A tireless worker on and off the ball, King often drops deep to pick up the ball inside his own half and uses his pace and directness to run at the opposition, relying on his quick feet and trickery on the ball to create chances.
A mobile striker with a good understanding of the game, King tends to drift wide to link up with the wingers and combines his dribbling skills with his acceleration to cut inside from the flanks. Furthermore, he is quite strong in the air and can cause a lot of problems for the opposition with his clever movement in and around the penalty area.
To put things into perspective, Joshua King would be an excellent signing for Watford in the summer. Javi Gracia’s side have enjoyed a wonderful run in the Premier League this season and are well and truly in the race to leapfrog ahead of Wolves to secure a Europa League qualification spot.
However, the failure of Andre Gray and Isaac Success to find the net consistently might have promoted the manager to look at options to bolster his attacking options.
Gray has not been a regular figure for the Hornets in the starting eleven, with Gracia preferring Gerard Deulofeu and Troy Deeney as the first-choice pairing up front, but he has contributed with 5 goals in the Premier League.
He has done pretty well as a backup option but Success has netted just once in the league this season. The Nigerian has been far too inconsistent to challenge for a regular first-team place and it doesn’t look like he is going to hang around at Vicarage Road for much longer.
Tactically speaking, King would be a good fit for Watford as Gracia has often shown the inclination to adopt a counter-attacking style against stronger sides.
A dynamic attacker with well-rounded attributes, King not only has the ability to wreak havoc on the counter but he is equally capable of producing some lovely one-touch football up front with his skills on the ball.
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With that being said, Watford need to bring in another prolific forward to add more firepower to their attack and Joshua King can certainly propel them to greater heights in the years to come.
