Bournemouth forward Josh King has informed manager Jason Tindall that he will be staying with the Cherries and will not be departing the club before Monday’s transfer deadline.

King has been the subject of intense speculation surrounding his future throughout the transfer window, with the likes of West Ham, Burnley and West Brom having reportedly all been interested in making a potential move for the Norway international. There was also reported interest from Wolves, but they were put off by the Cherries wanting a permanent deal rather than a loan move.

Newcastle were also reportedly interested in making a late move to bring King to St James’ Park from Bournemouth and reunite him with former team-mates Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser. The 29-year-old started for the Cherries in their 3-1 defeat at Reading on Friday night, but was unable to end his goal drought in the Championship this term that now extends to 12 matches (Sofascore).

Quiz: Did each of these 18 ex-Bournemouth players ever score a goal at Dean Court?

Following the defeat at Reading, there was some better news to emerge that will potentially put to bed a lot of speculation surrounding the 29-year-old. That comes after Tindall told Sky Sports that he expects King to remain with the club now for the rest of the campaign after the forward informed him of his decision to remain with the Cherries.

He said: "He [King] said to me today that he's staying here until the end of the season.

"That's great news for us and I'm sure Josh will be looking to do extremely well for us from now until the end of the season."

The verdict

This is very encouraging news for the Cherries and suggests that King will now be able to focus purely on his football rather than on all of the intense talk around his potential future. The 29-year-old has not been at his best for the Cherries this season and you get the sense that the uncertainty over his long-term future has been impacting his performances on the field.

King is now free to focus on getting his form back towards the levels he has proven he can reach. The forward was involved in ten goals or more in the Premier League for the Cherries in each of the last four seasons in the Premier League, including registering six goals and four assists last term (Sofascore). That is the sort of output he needs to now produce in the Championship.

The 29-year-old’s form between now and the end of the campaign could have a major bearing on whether Bournemouth can overcome a dip in form and force their way back into the automatic promotion picture. This though once again shows that the Cherries can hang onto some key players despite their drop into the Championship.