King Paul Akpan Udoh (born 5 September 1997) is an Italian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

er who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for club

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to US Triestina or just Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, in the northern Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Originally established in 1918, Triestina was one of the fo ...

on loan from

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

Club career

Having started his career with Reggiana, Udoh moved to Juventus in 2011, and was immediately loaned back for a year. After progressing through the youth ranks of Juventus, Udoh secured a loan move to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side Virtus Lanciano in 2016, with an option to buy at the end of the season. Failing to impress, he was returned to Juve, and then loaned to Lega Pro side Pontedera later the same year. On 14 July 2019, he signed with Pianese. On 13 September 2020 he joined

Olbia Olbia (, ; ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune of 61,000 inhabitants in the Italy, Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called in the Roman age, Civita in the Middle ...

on a 2-year contract. On 26 August 2022, Udoh signed a three-year deal with

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

. On 1 August 2023, he was loaned to

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

, with an option to buy.

Coronavirus infection

On 27 February 2020, Udoh became the first professional footballer to be infected by the virus in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. According to the publications Udoh was put under quarantine after showing symptoms of the virus.

Personal life

Born in Italy, Udoh is of Yoruba-Nigerian descent. On 27 February 2020, Udoh became the first professional footballer to be diagnosed with the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Udoh, King 1997 births Living people Footballers from Reggio Emilia Italian people of Nigerian descent Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Serie C players Serie D players AC Reggiana 1919 players Juventus FC players SS Virtus Lanciano 1924 players US Città di Pontedera players Fermana FC players Alma Juventus Fano 1906 players ASD Viareggio Calcio players US Pianese players Olbia Calcio 1905 players Cesena FC players AS Gubbio 1910 players FC Trapani 1905 players US Triestina Calcio 1918 players 21st-century Italian sportsmen