The Club is absolutely delighted to confirm that Anthony Knockaert has joined on a season-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, with a view to a permanent transfer.
The 2017 Championship Player of the Year arrives in SW6 with an abundance of pedigree in both England’s second tier and the Premier League.
A tricky winger, Knockaert boasts a prolific record of 33 goals and 29 assists in just three-and-a-half Championship campaigns.
Speaking to fulhamfctv after putting pen to paper, Knockaert said:
“It feels amazing to be here. I feel really welcome already. It just feels great to get this done and for me to be a Fulham player.
“I can’t wait to get started and obviously help the Club achieve its goal.
“The goal is to get back to the Premier League where Fulham belongs. I have come here with the clear intention to get promoted and I want to help in any way that I can.”
Frenchman Knockaert first arrived on these shores in the summer of 2012 when he joined Leicester City as a 20-year-old. He scored nine goals in his maiden campaign, the most important of which came on the final day when his dramatic late winner at Nottingham Forest saw the Foxes jump from eighth into the last remaining Play-Off spot.
They lost to Watford in the Semi-Finals in one of the most enthralling ties in recent memory, but bounced back in emphatic style to claim the Championship title with 102 points a year later, with Knockaert featuring in 42 of their 46 league matches.
After a year in the Premier League – in which he helped Leicester secure their top flight status - Knockaert joined Standard Liège on a permanent deal. He was only in Belgium for six months, though, as his five goals and six assists in just 19 starts prompted Brighton to bring him back to the UK.
He carried that form on in the Championship, with his 12 goal involvements (five goals, seven assists) in the second half of the season helping the Seagulls to a third place finish, with goal difference alone denying them an automatic promotion place.
In a sense of déjà vu for Knockaert, the Play-Offs again ended in disappointment, but there were no signs of a hangover the following campaign as Brighton finished second in the standings.
That was arguably the best season of his career so far, as he netted 15 times and laid on nine assists in his 45 league outings. He was also subsequently named in the Team of the Year, and won the Championship Player of the Season trophy.
Knockaert continued to be a regular for Brighton in the Premier League, amassing 63 appearances across the past two seasons, and won the Premier League’s Goal of the Month award as recently as March for his stunning effort against rivals Crystal Palace.
The arrival of the 27-year-old adds an extra dimension to Fulham’s forward line - which has already been boosted by the signing of Ivan Cavaleiro and Aleksandar Mitrović’s new contract – with Knockaert’s career stats making for impressive reading, with 68 goals and 59 assists for his various clubs.