Charles Itandje
Birthdate: 2 November 1982
Birthplace: Bobigny, France
Other clubs: Red Star 93 (1997-2001), Lens (2001-07), Kavala (loan 2009-10), Atromitos (2011-)
Bought from: Lens
Signed for LFC: N/A, 09.08.2007
International caps: u-21 3 caps
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Liverpool debut: 25.09.2007
Last appearance: 16.02.2008
Contract expiry: 08.12.2010
Win ratio: 57.14% W: 4 D: 1 L: 2
LFC league games/goals: 0 / 0
Total LFC games/goals: 7 / 0
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Player profile
Itandje is born in France but his parents are from Cameroon. He was Lens' main goalkeeper from 2003-2007 and played 170 matches in the french first division. He featured three times for the French u-21 team and was known for his dance steps to put opponents off in penalties. Although he arrived at Anfield with a good reputation in France, Itandje knew when he signed a contract that his chances of first-team football would be very limited as understudy to Reina after Jerzy Dudek joined Real Madrid and Scott Carson went out on loan to Aston Villa. Perhaps there was a clause in his contract guaranteeing that he would play in certain cup matches as Liverpool played in seven FA Cup and League Cup ties during the 2007/08 season and Itandje was in goal for all of them. He conceded eight goals in those seven games and never seemed to instill a lot of confidence in the defenders in front of him. Certainly Reina might have been expected to do better with the two goals that went past Itandje as Liverpool were humbled by championship side Barnsley in the FA Cup.
Itandje was made available for transfer after Liverpool signed Diego Cavalieri in the summer of 2008 but he turned down a move to Turkish club Galatasaray. He didn't appear in Liverpool's first team at all in 2008/09 but he did manage to attract the wrong sort of attention by snickering and bothering Damien Plessis, who sat next to him, during the twentieth anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster service at Anfield in April 2009. He was disciplined by the club for this incident and it was clear that his future lay elsewhere. In December 2010 Itandje joined Greek club Atromitos on a free transfer where he has been a regular.
Itandje made thirty-four first-team appearances for Atromitos in 2012/13, including playing twice against Newcastle United in the Play-off round of the Europa League.