Football Season Guide

Rennes endured a very disappointing 2023/24 campaign, in which they were incredibly inconsistent, despite showing periods of very high quality. After missing out on Europe, they will expect to come back stronger this time around but have seen a significant turnover in staff. Julien Stephan remains in charge but his team will be new look. Big money has been received for the likes of Enzo Le Fee, Martin Terrier and, to a lesser extent promising centre-back Bayer Leverkusen. It should be noted that winger Desire Doue, prodigiously talented as he is, looks primed to leave for big money, too. Meanwhile, the size of the squad has been trimmed a little given there was no need for such a big team without the demands of European football, which they enjoyed last time around. Terrier has not been replaced in attack, with Stephan set to give more responsibility to Amine Gouiri, who was disappointing last season. He typified Rennes by being excellent for periods but also incredibly frustrating in others. The same could also be said for Arnaud Kalimuendo. This whole unit was extremely inexperience, and this was a symptom of that. The way the midfield has been strengthened suggests a 4-3-3 formation will be used. Albert Gronbaek has been signed from Bodo/Glimt, a club who have a habit of selling for big money only for their players to ultimately disappoint elsewhere. Glen Kamara is the other significant addition to a midfield that has strong options in the form of Benjamin Bourigeaud, Baptiste Stantamaria and Azor Matusiwa, Surgery has also taken place in the defence, with Leo Ostigard arriving from Napoli and Hans Hateboer joining up from Atalanta. Both will be expected to contribute significantly. Ostigaard is arguably the more important addition given that the heart of the defence was curiously weak last term. Veteran goalkeeper Steve Mandanda will continue to anchor the team but is no longer an outstanding Ligue 1 player in his role. Nevertheless, he is perfectly serviceable.