Joshua King (footballer)

For the 19th century University of Cambridge professor, see Joshua King.

Joshua King

Personal information
Full name	Joshua Christian Kojo King
Date of birth	15 January 1992 (1992-01-15)
Place of birth	Oslo, Norway
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Hull City (on loan from Manchester United)
Number	27
Youth career
1998–2006	Romsås
2006–2008	Vålerenga
2008–2010	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2009–	Manchester United	0	(0)
2010	→ Preston North End (loan)	7	(0)
2011	→ Borussia Mönchengladbach (loan)	2	(0)
2012–	→ Hull City (loan)	4	(0)
National team‡
2007	Norway U15	4	(1)
2008	Norway U16	3	(1)
2009	Norway U18	2	(1)
2010	Norway U19	2	(2)
2011	Norway U21	2	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:31, 2 March 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:22, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

Joshua Christian Kojo King (born 15 January 1992) is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Hull City on loan from Manchester United. He usually plays as a forward, but he is also able to play as a winger. Born in Oslo, King was signed by Manchester United from Vålerenga in 2008.

Career

Early years

Born in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to a Gambian father and a Norwegian mother, King grew up in the suburb of Romsås. He began his career with the local club, Romsås IL, at the age of 6, but signed for Vålerenga in 2006, when he was 14. He remained with Vålerenga for two seasons, but did not make an appearance before he was spotted by Manchester United scouts at Ole Gunnar Solskjær's summer school in 2007.

Manchester United

King signed for Manchester United when he turned 16 in January 2008, and made his debut for the under-18 side in a 5–1 home defeat to Sunderland on 29 March 2008. He began the following season by scoring four goals in four matches as the Manchester United Under-17s won the 2008 Milk Cup. He then played in two matches at the start of the 2008–09 Premier Academy League season before injury kept him out until January 2009. Joshua was an unused subsitute in Man Utd's 4–0 win over Wigan Athletic in February 2011.

Two games after his comeback, he scored two goals in a 5–0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 31 January 2009. The following week, he was named as an unused substitute for the reserves in a Manchester Senior Cup match against Stockport County, before making his reserve debut as a substitute for Robbie Brady in a Premier Reserve League match against Bolton Wanderers three days later. He was then ruled out by injury for another month, but recovered in time to play in the run-in to the end of the Under-18 league season, as United finished in second place, 19 points behind winners Manchester City.

At the start of the 2009–10 season, King came on as a substitute for Zoran Tošić in the final of the Lancashire Senior Cup, a 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers. He then started the reserves' first three league games of the season, and was rewarded for his performances by being given a place on the bench for the first-team's League Cup third round match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 23 September 2009. He was given the #41 jersey and came on as an 81st-minute substitute for winning goal-scorer Danny Welbeck. Although King had two opportunities to add to United's lead, the match finished 1–0 and United progressed to the fourth round of the competition.

Preston North End loan

On 7 August 2010, King joined Football League Championship side Preston North End on a three-month loan deal, becoming Preston's 1000th player and linking up with fellow United loanee Matthew James. He made his debut on 8 August, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute for Paul Hayes in Preston's 2–0 defeat by Doncaster Rovers on the opening day of the 2010–11 season.

His first goal for Preston came in his second match, a League Cup first round tie against Stockport County; after coming on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Chris Brown, he intercepted a goal kick from Andy Lonergan and curled the ball past the Stockport keeper, making the final score 5–0. He had earlier added an assist after running 60 yards down the right wing and crossing for Paul Hayes' second goal – the fourth of the match.

Borussia Mönchengladbach loan

In August 2011, King joined German club Borussia Mönchengladbach on loan for the duration of the 2011–12 season. The loan agreement between Borussia and Manchester United was first announced by Borussia's director of sport, Max Eberl, at the club's general meeting on 29 May 2011, but the move was held up when King suffered a groin injury requiring surgery while on international duty with the Norway Under-21 side. Borussia confirmed the loan transfer on 22 July 2011, the terms of which were undisclosed by either club, although it was still subject to King passing a medical examination on 1 August. He began individual training with Borussia on 2 August, before linking up with the rest of the squad shortly afterwards. King made his first appearance for Borussia Mönchengladbach as a substitute on 19 August 2011, in Borussia's 4–1 win against VfL Wolfsburg. King returned to Manchester after half of his loan time because of injury problems.

Hull City loan

On 16 January 2012, King joined Hull City on loan until 30 June 2012. On 21 January 2012, he made his debut as a 86th minute substitute for Liam Rosenior in the 0–1 away win at Reading.

Career statistics

Statistics accurate as of match played 2 March 2012.

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Manchester United	2009–10	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2010–11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Preston North End (loan)	2010–11	7	0	0	0	2	1	–		–		9	1
Manchester United	2011–12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Borussia Mönchengladbach (loan)	2011–12	2	0	0	0	–		–		–		2	0
Hull City (loan)	2011–12	4	0	1	0	–		–		–		5	0
Career total		13	0	1	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	18	1

External links

• Profile at ManUtd.com