Cerebral Josh King plots unusual route into Tuchel’s England plans

Armed with an impressive academic record and experience as a rugby fly-half, the teenager is anything but typical Josh King is talking with pride about how his mother, Michelle, a university lecturer, has almost finished her PhD in sickle cell disease. The Fulham attacking midfie

Armed with an impressive academic record and experience as a rugby fly-half, the teenager is anything but typical Josh King is talking with pride about how his mother, Michelle, a university lecturer, has almost finished her PhD in sickle cell disease. The Fulham attacking midfielder, who is in the England squad for the Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain this week, mentions that his father, Steve, is a lawyer and says he might have liked to follow in his footsteps if it had not worked out for him on the pitch. King’s background is not that of a typical footballer.

Privately educated at Hampton School in south-west London, he aced his GCSEs, achieving A or A* in his 10 subjects. He went on to study part-time for A-levels in French, maths and psychology, getting grades of A, C and D – pretty impressive, especially when you consider he sat the exams in a hotel suite in Romania in the summer of last year while playing for England at the European Under-19 Championship. Continue reading...