Why Fulham’s generational talent must learn from Harvey Elliott, Ryan Sessegnon transfer mistakes
At 19, Josh King is the latest English kid on the block to be blooded at Craven Cottage and has already become the West London club’s talisman in a side that is sparse in quality. While it is early days, there is strong reason to believe King can break the chain.
The teenager became a first-team regular under the stewardship of Marco Silva last season, starting around half of his 32 Premier League appearances and at 18, there was a growing expectation that he could become something special.
That talent has not gone unnoticed under new boss Álvaro Arbeloa, with the academy graduate starting every one of the Cottagers’ league games, while he has been the West London club’s most threatening player with two goals, regularly opening up opposition defences with his intelligent attacking play.
Given that King is English, the hype around him is only going to accelerate, and before you know it, he will be linked with the biggest clubs in the country and possibly Europe. While a move to a Premier League giant will appeal and will ultimately be the ambition, King needs only take a look at the Fulham production line to know a premature move could bring it all crashing down.
Eight years ago, Harvey Elliott, aged 15 years and 174 days, made his senior debut for the Cottagers against Millwall in the third round of the Carabao Cup, becoming the club’s youngest-ever first-team player and the youngest player to ever appear in the competition.
Understandably, there was significant buzz around the attacking midfielder in West London, but after making just three senior appearances for the Whites, Liverpool seized their opportunity by signing the 16-year-old, who had not yet even turned professional.
Elliott’s early career took a different path to King’s as he benefited from a loan spell with Championship side Blackburn Rovers, where he flourished with 18 goal contributions before eventually becoming a squad player for the Reds. Jürgen Klopp was clearly an admirer, but trying to budge Liverpool’s world-class attacking talent was a mountainous task for the midfielder, who largely featured as a rotation player.
After winning the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2025, Elliott was named Player of the Tournament, suggesting he just needed the right club to reach his potential, but a nightmare stint with Aston Villa plummeted his reputation. Now on loan with struggling Valencia, the 23-year-old is enduring the worst period of his career, and he is hard-pressed to turn it around.
Indeed, there are other examples. Patrick Roberts dazzled for Fulham in the Championship before securing a dream move to Manchester City in 2015. However, he experienced loan after loan across Europe before reviving his career in League One with Sunderland. Now at Birmingham City in the second tier, it is fair to say he hasn’t lived up to his promise.
Then there is Ryan Sessegnon, who also tore apart the Championship in his teenage years before becoming a Premier League regular for the Cottagers. He was just 19 when he signed for Tottenham in 2019 and was barely given a sniff before eventually returning to the West London club in 2024. The left-back is still only 26 but is playing second fiddle to Antonee Robinson, not how he would have envisaged his career going.
Of course, King is of a different ilk with a different story, and he has arguably made more of a mark on the Fulham first team than any of the aforementioned players in the top flight. After Harry Wilson’s departure in the summer, there was genuine concern about who could be the club’s creative outlet, the player to get fans out of their seats, and King is that man.
If anything, the Cottagers would be wise to build a squad around the England under-21 international and hand him a bumper deal, even though he signed fresh terms in 2025. That would give him the chance to develop into the top attacking midfielder he was born to be and etch his name into Fulham history.
Worryingly for Arbeloa’s side, they already look like prime relegation candidates, and while performances have improved against Liverpool and Manchester United, there is a distinct lack of cutting edge in the final third. Relegation would not only be a dampener for the Cottagers, but it would also likely end King’s affiliation with his boyhood club, as he is far too good for the Championship.
If anyone can keep Fulham up, then it is King. Supporters will hope and pray that he has studied those that came before him, and mount his reign in West London before he inevitably moves on to bigger kingdoms.
