Born: Leuven, Belgium, 27 May 1988
Position: Full back; centre back
Nationality: Ghana
International caps: 1 (for Belgium); 4 (for Ghana)
International goals: 0
Signed: 14 July 2016 from Lokeren (£700,000)
Fulham debut: Fulham 1-0 Newcastle United, 5 August 2016
Fulham appearances: 155
Fulham goals: 6
Honours: EFL Championship winner (2021-22), EFL Championship play-off winner (2018; 2020).
Sold: 1 February 2022 to Club Brugge KV (undisclosed).
Versatile defender Denis Odoi, who joined Fulham from Lokeren for around £700,000 in July 2016, became a cult hero at Craven Cottage when he produced a sensational bit of control off his back during his debut – a 1-0 win over Newcastle United in the first game of the season. Odoi never let the Whites down, whether he was playing at right back, left back or even in the middle of the back four – where he arguably produced his most consistent displays during Fulham’s 23-match run that catapulted Slavisa Jokanovic’s side into the automatic promotion race.
Odoi had a telling role in Fulham’s eventual promotion via the play-offs at the end of the 2017/2018 season. He memorably headed the winner against Derby County in a tense semi-final before being sent off for hacking down Jack Grealish at Wembley. The popular defender emerged to celebrate by dancing on the crossbar with the Fulham fans: a move he repeated after the Whites beat Brentford in a behind-closed-doors final two years later.
It was fitting that his final season saw Fulham storm to the Championship title under Marco Silva – and that Odoi was present to receive his Forever Fulham award on the night that the Whites lifted the trophy having thrashed Luton Town 7-0 at Craven Cottage.
