Leroy in Rennes, end of the road

Jérôme Leroy played his final game with the Stade Rennais in Lille. After four seasons, and over a hundred and fifty games with the “Rouge et Noir”, the attacking midfielder hasn’t offered a new contract offer from the club, and will therefore leave Brittany on a free transfer, probably for a final season in professional football.

Since a couple of days, it had been rumoured that a departure was in the cards. On Saturday, after the season’s final training session, Jérôme Leroy had bid farewell to the supporters, in the absence of a new contract offer from his management.

This Monday, the club officially confirmed they didn’t wish to keep the experienced midfielder on board. Aged 36, Jérôme Leroy had arrived in Brittany in summer 2007, already on a free transfer. He had just achieved a good season with FC Sochaux, capped with a Coupe de France victory. Known as an unstable player, the former Parisian found a perfect environment to fulfil his potential. And indeed, Stade Rennes would become the club where he spent the most consecutive seasons in his professional career, four in total.

With a hundred and fifty games played, nineteen goals scored and several dozens of assists (he once again topped the club’s charts in the latter exercise this season), Leroy was one of the most efficient Stade Rennes player on the attacking front over this period. Only three weeks ago, he offered the Europa League qualification to his club by scoring the winning goal in Saint-Étienne.

A Pagis jurisprudence?

Although the squad’s veteran seemed ready for another – probably final – season in the top flight with the « Rouge et Noir », his employer finally decided to let him go.
Often cited as an example by Frédéric Antonetti or Pierre Dréossi over the last few months, the midfielder legs are getting heavy with the years, and he struggled when it came to starting games week-in week-out this season. Although the number of games he played remained stable since his arrival in Rennes [1], his playing time has decreased dramatically in the same time [2]. By deciding to part ways with their most experienced players, Stade Rennes may have decided to spare a consequent salary, for a player who would probably have played even less next season, despite the Europa League.
In a recent past, during the 2009-2010 season, Stade Rennes were still including Mickaël Pagis in the squad, who only started two games before retiring. By avoiding the possibility of a similar operation with Leroy, Stade Rennais have many chosen, pragmatically, to minimise the inflation of their wage bill.

As for Jérôme Leroy, he should not be hanging his boots yet, according to his latest declarations. After sixteen years as a professional, the attacking midfielder could bring his experience to the service of several Ligue 1 or Ligue 2 clubs. Freshly crowned as Ligue 2’s champions, Évian Thonon Gaillard are interested in his profile according to L’Équipe, in order to bring more experience to their squad in view of next season. The perspective to recruit a player of such calibre should, by all means, attract the interest of a reasonable number of clubs.

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