On Monday, the Montreal Impact announced the signing of former Olympique Marseille defender, Rod Fanni. The contract runs through the month of June with the option to extend it to the rest of the season. 

On Sunday, the club lost the first all Canadian clash of the 2018 MLS season 2-1 to the Vancouver Whitecaps. Now the club has signed the experienced Frenchman in hopes of strengthening up the backline.

Career Path

After spending the late 90s with French club, FC Martigues' academy, the defender was handed his senior debut in 2000. He stayed with his youth club until 2002 totaling 63 appearances with the club, Fanni moved to RC Lens, another French club.

In 2004, the defender enjoyed a loan spell at LB Châteauroux. After 34 appearances with the club during the loan spell, Fanni moved to OGC Nice at the end of the season. This time, the Frenchman stayed two seasons before packing his bags and moving once again.

Unsurprisingly, Rod's next move was once again to a French club, this time, Stade Rennes. After his longest-tenured spell for him up until that point, Fanni made his move to Marseille for the first time where he spent four seasons. 

Then in 2015, he moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining Qatari club, Al-Arabi SC. After 14 appearances there and another 14 on loan at Charlton Athletic, Fanni returned to Marseille in 2016. Now Fanni has moved West to help Remi Garde's Montreal Impact using a mix of his experience and ability.

Quotes

Former Olympique Lyonnais manager and new Montreal boss, Remi Garde said this about his fellow countryman “His arrival will allow us to fill the gap left by Zakaria Diallo’s injury.”  The Frenchman went on to say “Rod will strengthen our defensive corps while bringing his extensive experience to the group. I appreciated his swiftness in positively answering our request and his desire to take part in our project as soon as he was released from his contract with Marseille. I am certain that his contribution will be important for our upcoming games.”

Montreal Impact Technical Director, Adam Braz opened with “Rod's addition to the group was needed to help fill the void in our defensive line after Zakaria's injury.” Braz went on to say “He is a consummate professional who showed a strong desire to join our club. The fact that he was out of contract as well as his experience at the highest level in Europe were contributing factors to his signing.”

Quotes via impactmontreal.com