Steed tells Fulham he'll stay

Fulham midfielder Steed Malbranque has pledged his future to the club.

The Frenchman was one of the stars for Jean Tigana's team this season and has attracted attention from Premiership and European rivals.

Malbranque scored eight goals in his first campaign after joining from Lyon for £4.5million last summer and is highly rated in his homeland. He said: "My next season, I see it at Fulham. I feel good at this club and I'll stay."

The 22-year-old did not play at Ewood Park on Saturday when Fulham lost 3-0 to Blackburn, but assistant manager Christian Damiano has singled out his contribution during the campaign after they finished in 13th place.

Damiano said: "We've had a good season. Our objective was to stay in the Premier League and we were also in the semi-final of the FA Cup.

"If we had one more striker we'd have finished in the top eight, but we were too weak up front, and in midfield only Malbranque scored."