The Norway international has high hopes for his progress and feels that the Cherries can beat the Premier League’s best teams on their day
Joshua King has revealed his burning ambition to play Champions League football at some point in his career, but insists he is enjoying playing at Bournemouth more than ever.
Bournemouth sit above Manchester United and Tottenham in the Premier League, having firmly established themselves as a top-flight club since being promoted five years ago.
Eddie Howe’s side are ambitious and the manager has arguably the club’s best ever squad at his disposal.
King has high hopes for Bournemouth this season but he has revealed his personal ambitions after scoring the winner against former club Man Utd last week.
“I wanted to make it at Man Utd but I didn’t, so I took a step back to Blackburn in the Championship,” King told Goal at the London launch of Need For Speed Heat. “At Blackburn, I didn’t get given a chance. Then Eddie brought me to Bournemouth. Since then, I have not looked back.
“It’s my dream to play for a top club one day, but I am enjoying my time at Bournemouth. I’m learning a lot with Eddie Howe. I enjoy being with my team-mates, who also make me a better player as well. My long-term dream is to play Champions League football.
“If I retire and look back and I haven’t played in the Champions League then I will be disappointed in myself. Right now I am enjoying my time at Bournemouth, but I think we can do even better than we are currently.
“We have a great squad, team and staff. It’s just little things we need to sort to turn draws into wins.”
Bournemouth have a host of star players beyond just King in their squad. Howe can boast a group that includes Callum Wilson, Nathan Ake, Lewis Cook, David Brooks and Ryan Fraser, who are all making a name for themselves at the top level.
With Leicester currently in the top four in the Premier League and looking to break up the traditional top six, some might look at Bournemouth as another side capable of doing so.
King says that the Cherries got ahead of themselves last season by targeting a Europa League spot but that they have learned their lesson.
“Last year we set ourselves the goal to get into the Europa League and this year we are taking it game-by-game. I think that’s a lot better for focus. We tried to reach the Europa League from the start of the season but then we had 38 games to play and you can’t control what happens.
“You can only control what you yourself do and take it game-by-game to get the three points every time. Then anything is possible. When you have got 10 games left at the end of the season, then you can start thinking this is actually possible.
“It’s our fifth year in the Premier League now. In the first few years it was easier to get carried away but all of us have been in the league for a while now.
“We know that we should block out the media noise to focus on ourselves. We know things will automatically happen if we work hard. Last season, I remember there was a bit of talk in the dressing room about breaking the top six because we were amazing in the first 10 games.
“This season there’s been nothing in the changing room really. We knew that if we beat Man Utd we would go top six but then we dropped down after the Sunday games. It can be a little booster but you want to try to be there as long as possible.
“We have a great manager and he has players from League One and the Championship doing well in the Premier League. There are some new players – Philip Billing, for example – has been amazing for us this season. I still think he has two more gears to come and he could be one of our best players this season.
“We also have David Brooks and Junior Stanislas coming back from injury. Lewis Cook is getting himself back to full fitness, too, so we have got a very, very good squad. When everyone is fit and on our day then I think we can beat anyone. That includes Liverpool or Manchester City.”
Joshua King was speaking at the London launch of Need For Speed Heat. Need For Speed Heat is out on November 8 for Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC. To pre-order your copy, head to https://www.ea.com/en-gb/games/need-for-speed/need-for-speed-heat/buy
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