Thursday Sep 29 2005 07:59
Fulham have signed France international defender Philippe Christanval on a three-year contract.
The 27-year-old left Marseille at the end of last season and had been on trial with Arsenal earlier this summer.
Cottagers boss Chris Coleman told the club's official website: "I'm delighted to get him because we were looking to add some depth to our defence.
"Philippe is a player I've been looking at since I've been Fulham manager. I've always admired him. He was excellent at Barcelona, but then had problems with injury and fell out of favour with the last few managers he's had.
"The politics weren't right to get him sooner. There was a bit of in-house fighting at Marseille and then they wanted quite a bit of money, which we couldn't afford. We had to wait but now we have him.
"Philippe is a French international who has played at the top level. He wants to get his career back on track because he's missed a lot of football over the last year or two.
"He makes the right decisions. For me the best defenders make the right decisions more often than not and he fits into that category."
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