Talking to L’Équipe, Bira Dembélé guaranteed he would spend the season in Rennes. Contracted in Rennes until next June, the centre defender “will honour” his last year in his training club. Loaned to Boulogne-sur-Mer last season, Dembélé could have signed a permanent deal in the North of France if the Rennes management had not refused this summer. Targeted by Tours (Ligue 2) for another loan, Dembélé could not join this team as Rennes requested a transfer to receive a fee on the player’s sale.
Elsewhere, the Atletico Madrid are expected to press on the last hours of the transfer window to sign Rod Fanni. The negotiations have been stopped for weeks as the Spanish club failed to give financial guarantees to Rennes. However, this could change today, as the « Colchoneros » were about to sell José Manuel Jurado to Schalke 04 (Germany) for over 10 million euros. This could allow them to reinvest 4.5 million euros to recruit the French International.