No pressure on new boy King says Stags boss Evans
But the Mansfield Town manager is excited by what the 22-year-old could bring and believes fans are going to like what they see.
“We are not going to make this young man anything he’s not or build expectation on him,” said Evans.
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Hide Ad“We are just asking him to come in and enjoy his football for the next three or four months. If he does that he will play a part.
“He is certainly a talented boy. He gets a goal and he can pass it. He’s going to learn here.
“He has been in men’s football before both at Crewe and Southend.”
Evans has long been an admirer of the young Scot’s talents.
“I first came across him up at Hearts and then I followed his progress. I thought he did well at Crewe and again at Southend,” he said.
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Hide Ad“It was an opportunity presented to us and we’re delighted to have taken it.”
He is being signed as a midfielder, but King’s versatility could prove handy.
“When I signed Paul Anderson I saw him playing wide right,” said Evans. “Since then he’s been up top, he’s been centre midfield, he’s been in the hole and he’s been right back and in every one of them he’s been very effective.
“This young man can play right back. He can play centre midfield as a holding player like Joel Byrom. He can be like a Ben Whiteman-type, which is his more natural position, where he can go and work off the strikers, and he is a very accomplished No.10, technically very good as you’d expect anyone Swansea paid a significant, decent six figure sum for to be.
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Hide Ad“He has a number of positions. But we’ll just welcome him into the group and he will find his own little niche in our squad.”
Evans was delighted to land King’s signature ahead of several League one clubs.
“Sometimes I think if you are Scottish and the boy is Scottish it helps,” he smiled.
“This young man is guided not only by his representatives, who are very good, but by his family as well. When you get involved with them it does make a difference.
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Hide Ad“I think he wanted to come somewhere where someone knew more about him than just seeing him in one or two games.
“I’ve seen the kid at Crewe, Hearts and Southend as well as Swansea U23s, so I know quite a bit about him and can talk about specific games – not like some managers who talk about games he didn’t even play in!
“It’s always nice when you know what you’re talking about as it gives you a chance.
He added: “He is only young but he can make it (the ball) talk at times.
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Hide Ad“But I am not going to build him up. He’s just another little part of a jigsaw that hopefully comes together as we go forward in the season.
“Now he’s got a shirt to earn. And it’s not easy as we have some top players here.
“We didn’t need to add a player. We’re just trying to cover all the different scenarios that we may come across between now and the end of May.
“He now has to earn his place within the group. He came in and trained yesterday and, straight away, I think the players were very comfortable in giving him the ball.”