Steve Marlet


Steve Marlet is a retired French footballer and coach, who played as a forward. He was capped 23 times and scored six goals for the French national team, winning the Confederations Cup in 2001 and 2003 and featuring at Euro 2004.

Club career

Early career

Born in Pithiviers, Marlet began his professional career with Red Star.

Fulham

Marlet held the record for Fulham's biggest transfer fee until July 2008, as the newly promoted Premier League team paid £11.5 million to sign him in August 2001 from Olympique Lyonnais. His expectations was well received by France national team coach Roger Lemerre, suggesting "He will progress at Fulham". However, he only managed 11 goals in 54 league games, as then-manager Jean Tigana was dismissed during the season. He played just one game in the 2003–04 season for Fulham, in which he scored. He was then loaned out to Olympique de Marseille on 27 August, with an option to sign permanently.
While on loan, Marlet partnered Didier Drogba up front as Marseille advanced through the 2003-04 UEFA Cup, before losing the final to Valencia.
Marlet's poor performances for Fulham led to chairman Mohammed Al Fayed taking Tigana to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for the high transfer fee. Tigana, who had ties to Lyon and had briefly been Marlet's agent, was accused of signing him for an exorbitant fee and taking a cut of the fee for himself. The charges were quickly dropped.

Wolfsburg and Lorient

On 21 August 2005, after his release from Fulham, Marlet signed a one-year deal with the option for a second year, at VfL Wolfsburg of the German Bundesliga. On his arrival, manager Thomas Strunz said "Steve Marlet is very well-known in international football, a player who is fast and versatile".
Marlet only scored one Bundesliga goal and was not given the second year of his contract. He trained for two weeks with Paris St. Germain before signing a one-year deal at FC Lorient, newly promoted to Ligue 1. He was attracted by the attacking style of manager Christian Gourcuff.

Later career

After being released by Lorient, he went on trial with Ipswich Town from 6 to 30 October 2007, Chicago Fire and Reims.
In July 2011, he joined FC Red Star Saint-Ouen in the third tier of French football, the Championnat National, where he spent the last season of his career.

Career statistics

Club

League matches only
ClubSeasonAppsGoals
Red Star1990–9100
Red Star1991–9271
Red Star1992–93315
Red Star1993–94409
Red Star1994–952411
Red Star1995–963516
Auxerre1996–97243
Auxerre1997–98186
Auxerre1998–99327
Auxerre1999–00339
Lyon2000–013112
Lyon2001–0251
Fulham2001–02256
Fulham2002–03284
Fulham2003–0411
Marseille2003–04239
Marseille2004–05317
VfL Wolfsburg2005–06211
Lorient2006–07221

International goals

Honours

;Fulham