Incredible photo shows Fulham star as Tom Cairney’s MASCOT just six years before making first Premier League start

FULHAM have released an incredible photo showing a stunning time leap involving Tom Cairney and Fulham’s new star Josh King.

The Cottagers were held to a goalless draw against bottom club Southampton on Sunday.

However, while the game failed to rip up any trees ahead of Christmas, there was a significant promotion from the London club’s academy.

The game marked the full Premier League debut of 17-year-old midfielder King.

King was announced as the club’s Scholar of the Year for 2023/24, and has seen his dedication rewarded with minutes in the senior team this season.

And Marco Silva saw fit to hand the teen his first start in the Premier League at the weekend, with his only other game in the top flight coming in a 10-minute cameo against Brighton.

Following the game, Fulham shared a photo to their social media page showing captain Cairney walking out with King as a mascot in 2018.

It was paired with images from the game of Cairney playing alongside him during the game, before King was subbed off after 62 minutes.

On King’s performance, Silva said: “For him to start the game it was deserved because he showed me in the week he was ready.

“It’s an important moment for him and his team-mates as well because they recognise his quality every day on the training pitch.

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“There were some good moments from him but he was not involved in the game all the time because it wasn’t the best performance from ourselves.

“Because if you provide goals for him in the right areas of the pitch he’s going to be more involved and show his quality more.

“But for a first game for a boy at 17 years old it was a good performance.”

King made his senior Fulham debut back in August against Birmingham in the Carabao Cup.

Fulham face Chelsea on Boxing Day for their next match.

They currently sit ninth in the league, but have hit a sticky patch of form that has seen them win just one of their last six games – albeit with clashes against Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool in that run.