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Fulham stopper is ‘serious reinforcement for Antwerp’ – set to face Rangers

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Fulham defender Maxime Le Marchand has completed a loan move to Royal Antwerp and has been described as a ‘serious reinforcement’ for the Belgian club. 

They will be Rangers opponents in the Europa League round of 32, the first leg of which is set for Thursday 18th February.

In the first half of the season, Le Marchand made just two Premier League appearances for the Craven Cottage club and did not feature in the squad since the start of November.

The 31 year-old has now gone to ‘The Great Old’ for game time and to assist their challenge in the Jupiler Pro League as well as the Europa League.

His Fulham team-mate Denis Odoi has spoken about the type of player that Le Marchand is, and how he is likely to fit in, at Antwerp. 

“Max is just a good player. A clean playing defender with a super good basic technique and very good feet,” he stated.

“For example, at Antwerp they already have one, a French defender who likes to play football? I recently spoke with Nill De Pauw and he spoke to me about (Jérémy) Gélin, but Maxime still has more experience than him.”

“He is also strong as a leader and physically able to hold his own, but he is not the most aggressive defender. That is in his character, he is a quiet guy. But sometimes he is a bit too good, I think, also on the field.”

Odoi also touched on the Frenchman’s lack of minutes this season.

“He played a good game against Wolverhampton, but then some new players were brought in and he lost his place.”

“But I do think he is a better player than the minutes he played would suggest. He is not a standout player, he will not speak or become a dominant figure in the dressing room. But he is a very reliable and consistent player and will be a serious reinforcement for Antwerp.

With only two clean sheets from their Europa League group stage earlier in the season, Le Marchand and his new side will be up against it to thwart a potent Rangers attack who managed 13 goals across the same six game stage, in their group.

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