Joshua King / signs for Watford

DWelbz19

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Ighalo has been excellent, but he's a better player than King is, and he was filling in for Rashford whilst he was injured. We also have to start focusing on Greenwood as a CF as well as he starts to physically grow, he has potential to be the one of the best strikers on the planet. 3 strikers is fine, especially in these circumstances.
He wasn’t filling in for Rashford. Rashford is our starting left winger.
 

luke511

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He wasn’t filling in for Rashford. Rashford is our starting left winger.
He's played as a CF 13 times this season, some of those appearances he switched from LW to CF, but you get the point. Even if he's 1st choice left winger, 3rd choice striker, we still have a third option. Another striker kinda makes sense, but in this financial climate it doesn't, especially when time is Greenwood's friend.
 

DWelbz19

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He's played as a CF 13 times this season, some of those appearances he switched from LW to CF, but you get the point. Even if he's 1st choice left winger, 3rd choice striker, we still have a third option. Another striker kinda makes sense, but in this financial climate it doesn't, especially when time is Greenwood's friend.
I do sort of agree, but I think we’re playing it very risky if we do go into the season like that. Rashford is our first choice LW and our third choice striker; Greenwood is our second choice striker and second choice right winger. It’s all a bit iffy and one injury to Martial (like we had this season a few times) and the flow is sort of ruined and we’re working against the tide again.
 

luke511

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I do sort of agree, but I think we’re playing it very risky if we do go into the season like that. Rashford is our first choice LW and our third choice striker; Greenwood is our second choice striker and second choice right winger. It’s all a bit iffy and one injury to Martial (like we had this season a few times) and the flow is sort of ruined and we’re working against the tide again.
True, but if we were to sign Sancho he would help in that regard as he plays just as good on either wing. It seems a bit messy, but I think having a front 3 as interchangeable as ours could be will work out to be an advantage performance wise in the long run.
 

Samid

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Your Noggie bias aside, do you want him here?
King is a better footballer than Ighalo but overall I think Ighalo is a better fit for the current squad. He's a traditional CF. King's best positions are second striker in a 442 (we don't play that formation) and LW in a 433 (we're stacked in that position).

Ideally I want another year of Ighalo on loan and then go all in on the other Noggie striker next year. Just feel like signing a permanent striker this year means we won't be interested when the next Haaland train leaves the station.
 

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He's played as a CF 13 times this season, some of those appearances he switched from LW to CF, but you get the point. Even if he's 1st choice left winger, 3rd choice striker, we still have a third option. Another striker kinda makes sense, but in this financial climate it doesn't, especially when time is Greenwood's friend.
Other than a short period last season when Ole first took over, Rashford has generally been quite poor whenever used as the sole striker. Yes he's obviously always going to be an option there, but it shouldn't be to the extent that he'd end up playing there consistently if our main guy gets injured (Greenwood isn't ready to play there consistently). Rashford is at his best as a left forward or as part of a two man strikeforce.

Personally I'm not convinced that King is the right man, but we do need somebody able to come in for a season or two to fill that gap. It'll then be up to that player to perform well enough that it continues longer than just a season or two.
 

beingshe7don

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Honestly, King does not improve the squad tremendously. If Werner is not happening, I would go after Eduoardo or Osimhen provided we can spend not more than 35m on either of them.
 

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I think he's underrated. Certainly good enough to come into the 'Ighalo' spot - reliable if needed but potentially not even second choice up front if Greenwood manages to stake a claim. My slight concern is that he'd cost too much to justify that potential bench-warming role, though, especially if other top sides are in for him.
 

Patchbeard

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Remember being at his debut for us in the Carling Cup, worked very very hard hard but not much quality on the ball. Think he's done well to have a reasonably successful career in the Premier League but rate him whatsoever.

Was stunned when Bournemouth signed him after he averaged 1 or 2 a season in the Championship. Had one wonder season before that where he got 16 goals but haven't been impressed by him since.
Take penalties out of the equation and he's scored 16 goals in 87 games in the last 3 seasons. If we sign a backup they need to be clinical for when called upon, e.g. Ighalo, not Josh King in my opinion.
 

Rozay

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Been saying since Ole came back 18 months ago that we should go for him. I think he’s the perfect back-up profile - and I expect Bournemouth would be reasonable. He has a year left on his contract, and you could tell from Howe’s comments that it was with a heavy heart that they refused to let him join us in January. We screwed them leaving them with hours to find a replacement, but even then, the reports were that they were trying, and if they had gotten Jarrod Bowen they would have let him come. Howe was saying that the club ‘know what United mean to him, but we really need him to try and stay up’.

This time round they would make it easy for him so long as we don’t take the piss.
 

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Now is the time to be stocking up on the biggest talents around. Not fecking Joshua King.
 

andersj

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King is a better footballer than Ighalo but overall I think Ighalo is a better fit for the current squad. He's a traditional CF. King's best positions are second striker in a 442 (we don't play that formation) and LW in a 433 (we're stacked in that position).

Ideally I want another year of Ighalo on loan and then go all in on the other Noggie striker next year. Just feel like signing a permanent striker this year means we won't be interested when the next Haaland train leaves the station.
I‘m not that sure regarding his best position. I think he is the best option for Bournemouth as a second striker (due to having Wilson and King being a lot better second striker than Wilson), but I do think he is better as a striker.

I know he prefer playing up front himself too (said it several times), and I like that he is such a good allrounder in that position. Unlike Wilson, who is more of a typical 9, King gets involed a lot more in the build up and works hard of the ball. A bit like a poor mans Drogba in form.

King would add a lot to our attack, but I agree. In an ideal world, a one year loan for Ighalo and then Haaland would be great. But I dont see it happening as Ighalo would be very expensive.
 

RedTiger

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King is a better footballer than Ighalo but overall I think Ighalo is a better fit for the current squad. He's a traditional CF. King's best positions are second striker in a 442 (we don't play that formation) and LW in a 433 (we're stacked in that position).

Ideally I want another year of Ighalo on loan and then go all in on the other Noggie striker next year. Just feel like signing a permanent striker this year means we won't be interested when the next Haaland train leaves the station.
Can Joshua play off the right as well? I was up for taking him 3 years ago tbh, he grew up within the club and he still loves the club as well as his ability to cover more than a single postion.
 

Champagne Football

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Honestly, King does not improve the squad tremendously. If Werner is not happening, I would go after Eduoardo or Osimhen provided we can spend not more than 35m on either of them.
Osimhen will not leave Lille for less than the £72m that Arsenal paid for Nicolas Pepe.

Josh King was Ole's first choice in January ahead of Ighalo. King is 28 while Ighalo is 31 in a few weeks and no way is he worth 20 million at 31 years of age. King learned his trade at Man Utd as a teenager and Ole obviously knows him well due to being both from same country.

I think Josh King is a no brainer. What we need is an experienced PL striker who will share the load with Martial and Greenwood. I don't see much sense in signing a big name striker when Greenwood will be the first name on the team sheet in around 1 year to 18 months.
 

Lennon7

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With titles like that can we make it commonplace that thread marks are stuck in so we can see what the title is referring to?

Anyway, haven’t seen the article but don’t want King. Need to aim much higher.
 

Sandikan

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He's played as a CF 13 times this season, some of those appearances he switched from LW to CF, but you get the point. Even if he's 1st choice left winger, 3rd choice striker, we still have a third option. Another striker kinda makes sense, but in this financial climate it doesn't, especially when time is Greenwood's friend.
We can't go into another season with just Rashford, Martial and Greenwood.

Surely the way this season went injury wise shows that.
 

Rozay

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King would be cover - and he can capably cover right, left and centre. Will give his all for the club similarly to Ighalo. Reckon we could get him for about 17.5.

I loved him when he was in the academy. There were times he was reminding me of a poor man’s R9, I really thought he’d go on to be a top player. He obviously wasn’t the highest bracket, and had injuries - but he’s a solid PL forward I think, and a red.
 

Handré1990

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Can Joshua play off the right as well? I was up for taking him 3 years ago tbh, he grew up within the club and he still loves the club as well as his ability to cover more than a single postion.
Yes, he can. He’s a good alrounder and he works hard for the team. We could do a lot worse for a backup option. He can play to a good level across the front line. He’s stronger and probably as fast as Martial, obviously a lot less skilled on the ball, but he has an urgency to his play which would fit in very well with what we’re going for, imo.
 

luke511

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Other than a short period last season when Ole first took over, Rashford has generally been quite poor whenever used as the sole striker. Yes he's obviously always going to be an option there, but it shouldn't be to the extent that he'd end up playing there consistently if our main guy gets injured (Greenwood isn't ready to play there consistently). Rashford is at his best as a left forward or as part of a two man strikeforce.

Personally I'm not convinced that King is the right man, but we do need somebody able to come in for a season or two to fill that gap. It'll then be up to that player to perform well enough that it continues longer than just a season or two.
I agree that he's a better player as left forward than sole striker, but as a striker he had zero width on the right wing and Lingard behind him as CAM when he's been playing as a CF, so it's a bit of an unfair judgement for me. With Bruno and Pogba behind him and more width on the right he could be twice the player in the same role. A strong back up option for striker at least.
 

bosnian_red

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Said it in January but id be happy with him, just as I would if we kept Ighalo. Ighalo maybe shown already he's perfect for the bench striker role, with his hold up play and physical presence, he gives something different while being good for the squad player role. King wouldn't provide that type of striker, but would be someone who can fill in anywhere in the attack and provide a decent level, but still the run in behind type rather than hold it up like we might need more.
 

Dve

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I was wondering when we´d get linked with King again.. what took them so long? haha
15m for King would be a fair bit of business. A bit injury prone and not a great goal scorer, but he´s quick and fits Ole´s counter attacking style of football perfectly. Could be back-up for both Rashford and Martial (I don´t think he´s played much on the right, though).
 

BlahRules

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I was wondering when we´d get linked with King again.. what took them so long? haha
15m for King would be a fair bit of business. A bit injury prone and not a great goal scorer, but he´s quick and fits Ole´s counter attacking style of football perfectly. Could be back-up for both Rashford and Martial (I don´t think he´s played much on the right, though).
We need depth and a player who can hold the. all and is willing to be a bench player than a star player.

I'm sure he can play in all attacking positions. If he is as you said $15 mill then we should go for him.
 

yumtum

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Imagine how pissed you'd be if you were King, seeing a big club like United in for you yet your club demanding silly money as you enter the last 18 months of your contract, then United sign a player that every United fan loves.

Bournemouth pretty much made sure he wouldn't sign an extension and are most likely going to lose him for peanuts.
 

MadDogg

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I agree that he's a better player as left forward than sole striker, but as a striker he had zero width on the right wing and Lingard behind him as CAM when he's been playing as a CF, so it's a bit of an unfair judgement for me. With Bruno and Pogba behind him and more width on the right he could be twice the player in the same role. A strong back up option for striker at least.
That's fair. I just remember that pretty much the only thing he bought to the role was running in behind the defenders. Basically no hold-up play, linking up with others or much of a goal-scorers instincts in the box (he seems to be able to time his runs into the box better when he's coming in off the left). As you said he probably would do better with a better team around him, but I would still prefer to see him further down the pecking order (like he is now where he's behind Martial, Ighalo and to some extent Greenwood).
 

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If we are buying just get Werner.. Liverpool clearly don't need him hence haven't bought him.
 

RooneyLegend

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Honestly, King does not improve the squad tremendously. If Werner is not happening, I would go after Eduoardo or Osimhen provided we can spend not more than 35m on either of them.
I reckon Osimhen would play Martial out of the side.
 

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Seen him play more number of minutes than Ighalo's.

Not impress with King at all, but damn Ighalo is madly good, brought many missing things to our team.

If Ighalo is too expensive, get King if no other better choices. If King's more expensive, I don't get why we should insist on him.
 

lenny_1248

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If we are buying just get Werner.. Liverpool clearly don't need him hence haven't bought him.
When will people realize that he is not a number 9? He literally plays on the left. That's his best position.
 

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Curious question -- what is Josh King good at? :nervous:
He's mediocre. He was an option on the last day of the transfer window to get something over the line quickly due to his former links to the club and Ole.

With a whole summer ahead of us and some clubs needing the money, King would be a step backwards.

Ole's done a great job reshaping the squad, now is the time to fill it up with top players or prospects.
 

Walters_19_MuFc

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Seen him play more number of minutes than Ighalo's.

Not impress with King at all, but damn Ighalo is madly good, brought many missing things to our team.

If Ighalo is too expensive, get King if no other better choices. If King's more expensive, I don't get why we should insist on him.
Not sure a lot would have been saying this prior to getting him in on loan, which seems to be the same now regards King.

I personally don't have a problem with King coming in as a squad player.

In terms of what he can bring well, whenever I watching King, he's just a constant menace. His pace is frightening, he's strong, good off the ball movement and works incredibly hard. To add to that, he's been playing in the Premier League for a while now, he knows the club and I'd imagine he wouldn't be on mega wages.

Time will tell, but I wouldn't be against this signing at all.
 

yo@Kirk

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RB Salzburg's 24 year old Hwang Hee-Chan would provide better cover at all attacking positions than 28 year old King at half the price. Hwang had 3 goals and 5 assists in 540' of Champions League play this season including a goal and assist at Anfield vs Liverpool's best XI. I can't see King having that kind of influence in the CL or vs Pool's best XI. Hwang would be a lot like Park Ji-sung, the only other South Korean to play for Man Utd. Hwang would be the smarter business and football move, imo.
 

roseguy64

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Ighalo has been excellent, but he's a better player than King is, and he was filling in for Rashford whilst he was injured. We also have to start focusing on Greenwood as a CF as well as he starts to physically grow into the role, he has potential to be the one of the best strikers on the planet. 3 strikers is fine, especially in these circumstances.
Rashford is not a striker.