Fulham have confirmed the capture of French under-21 international Steed Malbranque from Olympique Lyonnais for £4.5m.
The 21 year-old attacking midfielder, who starred in a friendly victory at Crystal Palace last night when he played as a trialist, leaves Lyon after losing his place in their first-team midway through last season. Malbranque, an unused substitute in their Coupe de la Ligue final victory over Monaco in May, broke into OL’s first-team aged eighteen and made 110 appearances, scoring ten goals. He was a summer transfer target for the Whites after going public with his desire to leave the Stade de Gerland and was brought through the French youth set up by Jean Tigana’s assistant Christian Damiano when he was in charge of the French under-18 national side.
Malbranque becomes Fulham’s fourth summer signing after the newly-promoted side converted Luis Boa Morte’s loan from Southampton to a permanent deal, stunned the footballing world by bringing in Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar from Juventus and added Abdeslam Ouaddoh, a promising Moroccan defender, from Ligue 1 outfit Nancy.
