Red-hot King "100 percent" committed to Bournemouth

LONDON ( Reuters) - Bournemouth's in-form forward Joshua King is "100 percent" committed to the Premier League club after his 16th league goal of the season guaranteed the highest finish in the south-coast side's 118-year history.

Red-hot King, who scored an 85th-minute winner as the Cherries beat Burnley 2-1 on Saturday, had already been the subject of interest from numerous clubs before he scored his 13th league goal of the calendar year on Saturday.

King's total of 16 league goals this term has spearheaded another impressive season for Bournemouth who sit 10th, with 45 points, ahead of next week's final round of fixtures.

The Norwegian progressed through Manchester United's academy set-up and spent large parts of his career on loan, but at 25 he has finally established himself as the focal point of Bournemouth's easy-on-the-eye attack.

"Being noticed by other clubs is positive but my focus is 100 percent here," King told Sky Sports.

"I set myself a target of 15 goals at the start of the season. I believe in myself but you can't do anything without your team-mates.

"I have been building on my confidence. Once you start scoring it builds. This is my first season where I have scored like this.

"Next year I need to prove myself and do it again before you can talk about me with Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku. I can't wait for next season to start. I've enjoyed it here from day one."

In their second season in the Premier League Bournemouth, under the impressive Eddie Howe, have won many plaudits -- not least for King's performances.

" Josh King has been excellent. Every team needs a goalscorer and someone to lead the line," Howe, whose own stock is rapidly rising, told Sky Sports. "There is more to come from him, too.

"Will we lose him in the summer? I don't think so. We love working with him. Hopefully, he feels the same. We need to keep our best players and we will do everything in our power to do that.

"It was a really good day for us. We are safe and it was asked if our standards would drop, but we didn't.

"Our goals were executed really well. We can shake off the odd knock and setback and we have won many points after going behind."

(Reporting By Tom Hayward,; Editing by Neville Dalton)