To make up for absences and one departure, Stade Rennes attracted three players, including only one safe bet at a turning point in its season. A risky bet, at a key moment.
He takes us on until the end of the night, beyond midnight. Yesterday, Stade Rennes waited to be able to officially announce the departure of Kamaldeen Sulemana to Southampton, a year and a half after his arrival, for some 10 million euros in added value for the Breton club. In the process, Ibrahim Salah was announced, to everyone’s surprise. Unknown to the battalion, the 21-year-old player is having his first pro season, which he started at La Gantoise, after debuting at Union Saint-Gilloise, and is already committed until 2027 with the SRFC. A new bet on the future.
A few hours earlier, Djed Spence had arrived, following the injury of Hamari Traoré who should keep the captain away from the field for a month. Without experience with Tottenham from where he arrives on loan without an option to buy, Spence has built himself in the Championship, and will have 5 months to take playing time in Rennes, at 22 years old. The adaptation will therefore have to be quick for a player who has been very little used this season (43 minutes), who will have to deal with the language barrier.
Priority tracks
From the supporters’ point of view, Stade Rennes has just recruited two unknowns. One to help out in a disaster area since Sunday, the other to retry a bet after that of Sulemana. Despite the timing, these two recruits are not strictly speaking presented as “panic-buys”. “The recruitment unit works all year round and this is not a last minute discovery. He is a player that we have been following for a while. » states Olivier Cloarec concerning Spence, when Florian Maurice followed Salah ” for many months “a priority runway for the SRFC.
Rennes therefore announces that they have succeeded in concretizing the deal on their first choices, as was the case for Karl Toko Ekambi. The only safe bet of the three when starting the second half of the season, the striker on loan without an option to buy from Lyon is operational, knows Ligue 1, and his contribution is expected this evening, in a context of uncertainty. for the SRFC.
A transfer window with reactions
Terrier “replaced” by Toko Ekambi, Sulemana “replaced” by Salah, Matthis Abline loaned to Auxerre without being compensated, the attack of Stade Rennes finds itself quite changed all the same, at a key moment of the season , after a month of January during which Rennes seems to have gradually lost its essence, and its confidence. Ahead of the standings, Marseille fell for Vitinha, Lens for Angelo Fulgini, while Monaco did not cede Maghnes Akliouche to SRFC. Behind, Lorient compensated for the departure of Terem Moffi with an armada of new players including Bamba Dieng and Romain Faivre.
The choice of Stade Rennes was therefore this winter to follow its common thread of revealing talents (Spence, Salah), just like during the summer transfer window (Wooh, Theate) by adding a touch of serenity (Toko Ekambi), which he had already done in July (Mandanda) and during the season (Xeka). He also reduced his workforce with departures on uncompensated loans (Abline, Gomis, Françoise). During this month of January, the SRFC made up for long-term absences, keeping its guideline in the search for profiles, despite the urgency of the results and the quest for the podium.
“If we make a mistake in June, we assume the mistakes we made. » judged Bruno Genesio last week about the winter transfer window, which he saw more as a way of “complete if there are injuries”. In Rennes, there is therefore no question of changing course, even in the storm.
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