De Foug: First Team target

Luc De Fougerolles was delighted to commit his future to his boyhood club on Friday, penning a deal that ties him to Fulham until the summer of 2029. The 19-year-old centre-back has been with us for more than a decade now, so does it feel like home in SW6? “It really does,” he said. “It’s my local club, I went to loads of games growing up, I know all the staff, all the players. It’s a great club and I love it here, so signing a new contract is amazing, and I can’t wait to have another four years here. “My whole family are Fulham fans. They obviously want what’s best for me, but they do want me to play for Fulham! As I do, as well. I was just happy to get it across the line, and hopefully I can start playing some games and make the fans happy. “The goal is playing for Fulham, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, so that was one of the main reasons for signing the contract, and signing that length of contract, to give me the best chance of playing for Fulham at some point. “So that’s the plan, to get into the First Team and start playing some games. I’m glad that it’s been done, and I’m excited for the season ahead and what it’s going to bring.” 2024/25 was a tough one for De Fougerolles, who missed a large chunk of the campaign through injury, only to finish strongly by captaining our Under-21 side and representing Canada at the Gold Cup. The youngster added to his two senior international caps with two more appearances in pre-tournament friendlies, impressing sufficiently to start in the 6-0 and 2-0 wins over Honduras and El Salvador, respectively, in the Group Stages. De Fougerolles also played the entirety of their Quarter-Final showdown with Guatemala, but a penalty shootout defeat meant that was unfortunately the end of the line for Canada. “It was a great experience,” he said of the competition, which was eventually won by Raúl Jiménez’s Mexico. “Sadly, it ended at the Quarter-Finals, but that’s life. “There were two friendlies before, which I managed to get minutes in as well, which was good, but playing at the Gold Cup was amazing. “Getting a run of games was nice – playing in the 21s there’s maybe one game in a week, so playing a game every three days, playing in front of people, you see the stadiums packed out with Central Americans and Canadian fans – it was amazing. “It was a really tough season for me, at club level especially, because obviously I got that little summer with Canada. “It kind of made me realise how lucky I was to be playing – when I went away with Canada in the summer it made me appreciate the opportunities I was given by Jesse Marsch. In those first few games I did well, and then managed to get myself a good five games out there, which was amazing. “Honestly, it was a great way to end… not a bad season, because I think I definitely improved, but a season with lots of setbacks.”