PLAYER PROFILE

Philippe Christanval

Position: Defence

Height: 6'1

Weight: 11st 5lbs

Date of Birth: 1978-08-31 Paris, France

Philippe Christanval

Philippe Christanval signed for Fulham in September 2005 on a free transfer.

The 27-year-old had played for Monaco and Barcelona before being released by French side Marseille earlier in the summer.

He had recently trialled at Arsenal and Celtic, but both turned out to be fruitless.

Still, when one door closes another opens and Christanval soon found himself at the centre of Chris Coleman's attention and was snapped up by the canny manager at the start of September.

However, injuries hindered his progress at Fulham, and he only started seven games in the 2005/06 season, with eight futher appearances as a substitute.

This improved in 2006/07 though as he made 22 starts. He is a useful utility man for the Cottagers.