Everton are again being linked with Bournemouth forward Josh King, this time in a possible swap deal involving Jonjo Kenny and/or Jarrad Branthwaite going the other way.
Norway international King has been repeatedly linked with Everton over the past few transfer windows and this latest story claims the Cherries are now proposing a swap deal that would see one or both of the Blues young defenders drop down to the Championship.
It seems the Toffees may still have to part with some money to get King, but the swap deal might considerably reduce any possible fee.
King is certainly the type of player the Blues need to strengthen their attacking options. He can play anywhere across the front line although mainly on the left wing and at centre-forward while in past campaigns he has made and scored goals regularly.
So if he was back to his best he would provide good cover for the first-choice forwards and some overdue competition too.
This season though he hasn’t played many minutes for the Cherries, his form has dropped off and he seems to be no longer interested in being at Bournemouth now they have been relegated to the Championship.
A move back to the Premier League would appear to be his understandable preference and he can also sit tight and wait for the summer when he will be a free agent.
King was an effective forward in the English top flight over the past few years and at his peak at 28, presumably he believes he could be again.
A few campaigns back he netted in double figures and was certainly attracting the interest of several Premier League clubs, including allegedly Manchester United. But he hasn’t reached those levels again recently and it maybe that he is a player in decline.
But, if such a deal happened and the Championship club wanted a swap with Jonjo Kenny that would appear to be a decent move for both the player and the club.
Kenny isn’t likely to play much in the Everton team going forward so letting him go somewhere else to get regular football would be right for the former youth team product.
But I wouldn’t want to see Branthwaite leaving. I think he has a chance to become a good top flight centre-back so a loan perhaps for the second half of the season would be more appropriate to give him more playing time.