Do Fulham have a gem in King?

As a neutral, I struggled to recall a Fulham youngster who had progressed through their academy and established themselves as a first team regular. A quick back and forth over WhatsApp with a BBC colleague helped identify a consistent trend. Those who do emerge are quickly snapped up by 'bigger clubs'.

Patrick Roberts was in and around for the first team for two seasons before Manchester City came calling for the teenager in 2015. Harvey Elliott, at just 16, made three senior appearances in 2019 before transferring to Liverpool. Neither player was at the club long enough to hear the chant 'he's one of our own'. Fabio Carvalho was. His breakthrough 2021-22 campaign was in the Championship, during which he scored 10 goals and provided eight assists, helping Fulham secure promotion to the Premier League. After just one season the 19-year-old also opted to head north to Anfield.

The poster boy example from a Fulham perspective would be Ryan Sessegnon, who after making his debut as a16-year-old, subsequently went on to score 25 goals across 120 appearances, before a club record transfer sale to Tottenham during the same summer in which Elliott also left.

The evolution of Sessegnon, who re-joined the club this season, is a clear outlier. Fulham fans will be hoping their latest diamond to surface, Josh King, bucks the trend demonstrated by the majority of those previously outlined.

As with most young players who regularly find themselves amongst a Premier League match day squad, their technical ability goes without question. Yet watching on during Saturday's FA Cup win over Wigan, the aspect which immediately stood out to me was he simply didn't look like a teenager making only a second career start in senior football.

His impressive balance meant I could not recall him ever being pushed off the ball, unless fouled, in what was a very physical game. King, who turned 18 last month, never went missing, was constantly involved in the play, often leading the counter attack, and if not for a better Timothy Castagne cutback, the performance could have been topped off by scoring his first ever professional goal.

Fulham are not in a rush to make King a regular starter. Head Coach Marco Silva alluded to a calculated exposure to the first team environment. When speaking to me during his post-match interview Silva said: "Josh is a top talent we have on our hands that we have to keep giving these experiences to. I think he showed his quality, his bravery and the way he can play between the lines."

The noises suggest King is an asset Fulham want to retain. Competing for minutes alongside the likes of Alex Iwobi, Emile Smith-Rowe and Andreas Pereira will help Silva's plotted drip feed approach. However with the current laser sharp focus on clubs adhering to the Premier League's profit and sustainability regulations, it would be naïve to think any home grown player is not for sale.

Tom Cairney is in his 10th season at Fulham. The club captain first met King back in 2018, when the then 11-year-old walked out onto the pitch with him as a club mascot. Cairney has played alongside Roberts, Elliott, Carvalho and Sessegnon, so has a firm understanding of whether or not a youngster can cut it at the elite level.

According to him "the sky's the limit" for King.