Monaco make Meriem move

AS Monaco FC have signed France midfield player Camel Meriem from FC Girondins de Bordeaux for a fee in the region of €6m.

Long association
Meriem has put pen to paper on a four-year contract with Monaco, bringing an end to his four-and-a-half year association with Bordeaux. "Monaco have bought out the last two years of Meriem's contract," said Bordeaux.

Signed from Sochaux
The 25-year-old joined the Girondins club from FC Sochaux-Montbéliard midway through the 2001/02 campaign, going on to make 82 league appearances and winning the French League Cup in his first season.

UEFA Cup finalist
He was loaned to Olympique de Marseille in 2003/04 and impressed as the Vélodrome side reached the UEFA Cup final against Valencia CF. Meriem played nine games en route to Gothenburg, but had to wait until November last year, when he was back at Bordeaux, to earn the first of his three France caps.

Change of role
Meriem was deployed on the right of midfield by Bordeaux coach Michel Pavon, yet is expected to fill a more central role for Monaco. The principality team, third in Ligue 1 in 2004/05, will enter the UEFA Champions League in the third qualifying round.