View: Josh King deserves to earn full debut v Tottenham
Josh King appeared to be a shrewd piece of business when he signed for Everton from Bournemouth in February.
The Toffees had lost Cenk Tosun to Besiktas on the penultimate day of the transfer window, with the forward’s exit leaving his parent club short on offensive reinforcements following his loan switch.
Everton were able to bring King to Merseyside just one day later however, bringing someone with pedigree and Premier League experience to back-up and support Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Several months later however and King is still waiting for his first start for the Blues, having made each of his eight league appearances as a second half substitute.
The Norway international only penned an initial six-month deal in February, meaning that his contract with Everton is set to expire this summer. As such his lack of starting minutes make his Everton future seem slightly precarious.
Carlo Ancelotti has been coy on the 29-year old’s future with the club in the past, previously determining that it would be down to his performances to seal his future. [Guardian]
King however, who former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe previously described as ‘outstanding‘ and ‘the complete package‘, hasn’t been able to build up any momentum through sporadic cameo appearancs.
Should Ancelotti give King an opportunity to impress only to find out that he isn’t good enough and so should be allowed to leave in the summer, at least the manager can justify his decision not to retain the forward.
However at this current moment in time it appears as though King will leave Goodison Park without ever really having a chance to prove himself, and in that scenario it would be the fault of Everton for not allowing him to express himself on the pitch.
Everton are currently undergoing somewhat of an injury crisis, a crisis that has ruled Dominic Calvert-Lewin out of Everton’s game against Tottenham on Friday night, leaving a vacant starting spot up front open for the taking.
Ancelotti will mostly likely name Richarlison in that position, but the Italian should consider handing King his full debut, if not in order to win the game but to give King the chance he so deserves.
In other Everton news, a shock passing stat proves that Everton flop must step his game up against Spurs.
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