Fulham have broken their transfer record for the second this summer – finally completing the protracted signing of French forward Steve Marlet from Lyon for £11.5m.
Jean Tigana had been searching for a striker over the course of the close season and concluded intense negotiations with his former club and Marlet’s representatives yesterday before the French international left the national side’s training camp ahead of a friendly against Chile to sign a five-year contract with the newly-promoted Premiership side.
Marlet said: “I am happy to have signed for Fulham. It is a very ambitious club and the plans that have been put in place by Mohamed-Al Fayed and Jean Tigana to establish Fulham as one of the leading clubs in England, encouraged me to come here.”
The 27 year-old enjoyed an extremely successful year at Lyon having arrived for £3.7m from Auxerre, where he was a team-mate of Fulham centre Alain Goma. Marlet scored thirteen goals in 36 games for L’OL – including five strikes in the Champions’ League, where the French outfit almost pipped Arsenal to a place in the quarter finals.
Tigana added: “I am pleased to announce that Steve is joining Fulham. I have said in the past that it is important for me to strengthen the squad and I believe that Steve’s striking ability will be a valuable asset to our first season in the Premiership. It is important for the squad to work together to enable us to be successful at the highest level.”
