Chris Smalling

The Club signed defender Chris Smalling in June 2008. The young centre half formerly played for Maidstone and joined the Whites on a three-year deal.

Over the course of the 2008/09 season Smalling's impressive displays for Billy McKinlay's Development Team earned the youngster a regular place in Roy Hodgson's matchday squad. On the final day of the 08/09 season Smalling made his First Team debut, replacing Aaron Hughes at centre back for the final fifteen minutes of the game against Everton at Craven Cottage.

Smalling's impressive progress at Club level caught the eye of England's U20 selectors and on April 2nd 2009 the defender played 45 minutes against Italy at Loftus Road. After his impressive second half performance for the Young Lions during their two-nil win over Italy, Smalling was called up by Stuart Pearce for the U21's squad in August.

On the 17th September 2009 Smalling was handed his Fulham debut against CSKA Sofia in the Europa League. Smalling performed admirably alongside the outstanding Chris Baird in Sofia and was praised after the match by manager, Roy Hodgson.

“He's learnt a lot,” said Hodgson. “One game like that in Europe against a team of that quality is worth a lot of Reserve matches. He made one or two mistakes during the game but was very quick to rectify them. I thought, if you analysed his performance over the 90 minutes, that he played with a maturity that I'm not entitled to expect from a player so young.”

Smalling’s meteoric rise continued when he earned his first start for England U21s in a European Championship Qualifier against Portugal at Wembley Stadium on the 14th November 2009. Smalling certainly impressed during the Young Lions victory over Portugal as Stuart Pearce retained Smalling in his starting eleven three days later as England drew (0-0) with against Lithuania in Vilnius.

Smalling's role in Fulham's European adventure continued with further notable performances agaisnt CSKA Sofia and Basel as the Whites secured their rightful place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League competition.

 

In the Club's final Barclays Premier League fixture of 2009, against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Smalling made his first start for the Whites alongside Aaron Hughes in central defence. 

 

During the January transfer window it was confirmed that Smalling will join Manchester United for an undisclosed fee on the 1st July 2010.