Everton and Fulham doing ‘intense work’ behind scenes for King transfer – Southampton move ‘not relevant’

If there’s one certainty when it comes to Joshua King now, it’s that he won’t be going to Southampton.

That’s according to VG in Norway, who continue the story first reported in England that the Saints and Bournemouth were in talks over a swap deal involving the striker and Shane Long.

Everton and West Ham were said to still be in the mix, but the outlet now add Fulham, who are still in need of goalscoring reinforcement.

It’s stated that ‘intense work is going on behind the scenes in the hours before the transfer deadline at midnight’, and with King only having six months left on his contract, you can see why Carlo Ancelotti and Scott Parker would be interested.

Despite this interest from Everton and Fulham, Southampton are now completely out of the race, with a transfer there now ‘not relevant’.

The reason for that was ‘too great a distance in the wage negotiations’, suggesting the Toffees and the Cottagers could be willing to offer the player more than what Ralph Hasenhüttl’s lot were.

Either way, King might have to jump on a plane sooner rather than later if things start unravelling in the right direction.