I was given my Manchester United debut by Sir Alex Ferguson - but he never even spoke to me

Saturday, December 12, 2015, is a day that Bournemouth supporters are unlikely to forget.

Exactly a week after stunning Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, winning 1-0 via a late goal from Glenn Murray, the Cherries welcomed Manchester United to what was then known as Dean Court. Still purring from that historic victory in west London, the coastal club put United on the back foot within the first two minutes, taking an early lead through Junior Stanislas.

Much to Louis van Gaal's relief, United responded 22 minutes later, getting themselves back on level terms through Marouane Fellaini, who scored one of the scrappiest goals you are ever likely to see, forcing the ball home from close range. That, however, was as good as it got for the Reds.

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Less than 10 minutes after half-time, Bournemouth restored their lead, with former United academy graduate Joshua King scoring from a well-worked corner routine. Nowadays, a lot of players tend to keep their celebrations muted after scoring against a former employer, but King was only too eager to celebrate what was just his second Premier League goal.

Sliding on his knees, he lapped up every second of what was no doubt one of the proudest moments of his career. From that moment onwards, United never recovered, meaning they made the long trip back up north reflecting on what turned out to be the first of three successive Premier League defeats.

For King, who joined United's academy at the age of 16 in January 2008, it was no doubt one of the greatest nights of his life. After it became clear he would not make the grade at Old Trafford, he left United in 2012, initially on loan, joining Blackburn Rovers, before making the move permanent in January 2013.

After almost three years at Ewood Park, King joined Bournemouth in May 2015, just weeks after they sealed a fairytale promotion to the Premier League. It represented his first meaningful chance to establish himself as a top-flight player.

The Norwegian, who is now at Fenerbahce, made just one Premier League matchday squad during his time at United, making the bench for a 4-0 away win over Wigan Athletic in February 2011. At that juncture, King had only previously made one appearance for the club, being handed his debut by Sir Alex Ferguson in September 2009, stepping off the bench to replace Danny Welbeck in a 1-0 win over Wolves in the third round of the League Cup at Old Trafford.

Ferguson gave him his second first-team outing just over three years later, awarding him more minutes via the bench in a 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League group stages. Despite the legendary Scot awarding him his United debut and then a first-ever taste of European football, King, a few years later, admitted the former Reds chief never actually spoke to him.

Speaking to the Mail in December 2015, King said: "He didn't say a word. I don't know why. We didn't speak. It surprised me.

"Not that he didn't speak to the youngsters much, he'd catch a joke and that when you saw him in the corridor in between training sessions. He was a great guy, good eye for football. But he expected a lot from the young players.

"You play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, he always wanted high tempo, high level of performance and professionalism. I was a bit surprised he didn't say anything the day before I left though."

King, who saw a shock deal to bring him back to Old Trafford in January 2020 collapse, admitted in a separate interview that it was hard to leave M16, despite knowing it was the right thing to do for the sake of his career.

"Of course, it's hard to leave," he added. "It was the biggest club in the world when I left it, with history, with Sir Alex Ferguson.

"And obviously when you're 16, you know it's going to be tough but you believe you're going to make it through and get a chance. Sir Alex used to give chances to some of the young boys - [Federico] Macheda, [Danny] Welbeck - which gave them confidence.

"But I never felt I got that chance, so I felt I had to think about myself. Maybe I could've been patient and stayed there in the ressies (reserves) for my chance but I felt I had to move on and play man football."

Despite never fully achieving his dream in United colours, he has made his mark against them over the years, scoring five goals in 12 career appearances against them; only against Everton (eight) has he scored more goals. As he crashed those goals in, Ferguson would have no doubt been speaking about him.