Former Bournemouth forward Josh King has opened up about his failed move to Premier League giants Man Utd in the 2020 January transfer window.
King’s most prolific season in the Premier League saw him score 16 league goals in the 2016/17 campaign with the Norway international attracting admirers.
The season before Man Utd showed interest King bagged 12 goals in 35 Premier League appearances with the Red Devils attempting to sign him in the next winter transfer window.
It came as a shock to most onlookers with King not having his best season in the 2019/20 campaign and Man Utd eventually opted to sign Odion Ighalo instead after having a £25m bid rejected.
The Athletic journalist David Ornstein reported at the time that King felt ‘used and messed about’ by Man Utd:
‘Conversations between the clubs led to United submitting two offers on Thursday, the second worth £25 million, and The Athletic understands this encouraged King to think a deal would be struck.
‘The following morning, the 28-year-old was ready to travel north and keen on the idea of rejoining United, who he signed for aged 16 but left in 2013 without making a first-team appearance in the Premier League.
‘Bournemouth and King spent Friday anticipating the Old Trafford side would return to the negotiating table but it never happened and the Norwegian was left disappointed.
‘His frustration is thought to have been directed at United for not following through with their advances rather then Bournemouth for rejecting them, the prevailing feeling being that he was used and messed about as the 20-time English champions ended up signing Odion Ighalo.’
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Speaking on the NRK’s Bakrommet podcast, King has now revealed his side of the story with a move to Man Utd a “dream” for the Norwegian, who now plays in France for Toulouse.
King said: “The dream was to play for United. Now United are struggling with a striker. They have a Norwegian coach who is interested. Put an offer on the table, and I came there for free. And then you say no to £25m.
“He (Eddie Howe) said: Joshua, I won’t stand in your way, but the club wants x number of millions.”
On his reaction to Man Utd signing Ighalo instead, King added: “I just sat in the jacuzzi for two or three hours waiting for the phone. I called Jim [Solbakken, his agent], who was working on that deal. And then I remember reading ‘Ighalo ready for United’. Then I was completely devastated. Then I was way down.”
King insists he’s still not completely sure why the move didn’t go through but that the collapse of the transfer to Man Utd left him wanting to leave Bournemouth.
The former Watford forward continued: “I don’t know if it came from Eddie or if it came from the club. But it came from somewhere. And that was part of the reason why I wanted to leave Bournemouth and try a new chapter.”
