Joshua King

He was given the number 41 jersey and came on as an 81st-minute substitute for goalscorer 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.

He was again named as a substitute for the fourth round match against Barnsley, but he did not take to the field.

Joshua Christian Kojo King (born 15 January 1992) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe and the Norway national team.

King was signed by Manchester United from Vålerenga in 2008.

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 played just once more in the league that season, as well as making five substitute appearances in the Blue Stars Youth Cup in May 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 an injury in October 2008 kept him out until January 2009.

Two games after his comeback, King scored twice 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 then made his first start of the season for the Under-18s against Manchester City on 14 February, only to miss the next two months of the season.

He returned at the start of April 2009, just 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.

King was an integral part of the under-18s side for the remainder of the season, scoring six goals in 14 appearances as the team won Group C of the 2009–10 Premier Academy League; they were drawn against Arsenal in the play-off semi-finals, and although King scored his penalty in the shoot-out after the match finished in a 1–1 draw, Arsenal ultimately won 5–3.

After impressing for Manchester United in the 2010–11 pre-season, King joined Championship side Preston North End – managed by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's son, Darren – on a three-month loan deal on 7 August 2010, becoming Preston's 1,000th player and linking up with fellow United loanee Matty James.

He made his debut the next day, 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.

King's first goal for Preston came in his second match, a League Cup first round tie against Stockport County on 10 August; 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 goalkeeper, 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.

King made his first start for Preston on 21 August, playing the full 90 minutes of the team's 1–0 home win over Portsmouth; King was named man of the match for his performance, in which he repeatedly threatened the Portsmouth goal.

King played in seven of Preston's first 12 league games, but suffered an ankle injury at the end of October 2010 that ruled him out for the rest of the loan, and he returned to Manchester United.

After his recovery towards the end of November, King returned to Preston on another loan until 4 January 2011; however, he made just one more appearance for the club before being recalled by Manchester United a few days early.

Some sources suggested that Alex Ferguson recalled King and fellow loanees Matty James and Ritchie De Laet in retaliation for Preston sacking his son, Darren, but Alex later indicated that King and De Laet had not enjoyed their time at Preston and did not want to return to the club.

After his return to Manchester United, King was a regular in the reserve team, playing in 17 of the last 18 games of the season; his only absence came against Arsenal on 28 April 2011.

He was also regularly on the scoresheet, particularly in the Manchester Senior Cup, in which he scored twice in an 8–0 win over Bury and three times in a 6–1 win over Rochdale.

He also hit two against Oldham Athletic in the quarter-finals of the Lancashire Senior Cup and against Chelsea in the Premier Reserve League to finish the season with 11 goals as the team won the Manchester Senior Cup and the Premier Reserve League North.

In among these performances, King was also named on the bench for three first-team matches, including Manchester United's 4–0 away league win over Wigan Athletic and their FA Cup wins over Crawley Town and Arsenal, as well as travelling with the team for the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie with Marseille.

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.

After representing Norway at under-15, under-16, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels, King made his senior international debut against Iceland in 2012, and scored his first international goal against Cyprus later that year.

Born in 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, before switching to Vålerenga when he was 15.

While at Vålerenga, King trained with English side Manchester United on multiple occasions, but UEFA rules prevented him from signing a contract with the club until he was 16.

He also had trial offers from Chelsea, Sunderland and Ipswich Town, but rejected those in favour of Manchester United.

After loan spells with Preston North End, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hull City and Blackburn Rovers, he signed permanently with Blackburn in January 2013, before switching to AFC Bournemouth in May 2015.

In February 2021, in a deadline day deal, he returned to the top flight with a move to Everton.

In recognition of his performances in the second half of the season, King was rewarded with a new two-year contract with Manchester United, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2013.