Ismaël Bangoura, the outcast

A glittering transfer

June 2009. Rennes created the sensation on the transfer market, signing Ismaël Bangoura on a four seasons contract. Cost of the transfer: 11 million euro. Before the season even started, his future association with Jimmy Briand, Asamoah Gyan or Sylvain Marveaux created dreams and ambitions among the Rennes supporters, convinced they finally welcomed a first-class striker in Bangoura.

Over the four previous years, he had made himself indispensable wherever he played. At Le Mans, the man known as “The Trigger” scored eighteen goals in two seasons. At Dynamo Kiev (2007-2009), he scored 40 goals in 54 games, keeping the same efficiency in the Champions League, even scoring against Manchester United in the legendary Old Trafford Stadium.

The success story was obvious, with Bangoura having a good knowledge of the French league and a strong European experience. Rennes had explored many leads before deciding on the Guinean international. Also targeted, Peter Odemwingie was finally left aside in favour of the Conakry man.

An explosive Premiere

Arrived to play as a right winger in a traditional 4-3-3 formation, Bangoura completed the Rennes attacking line with Gyan and Marveaux, waiting for Briand’s injury return scheduled for the end of the year. In the first game week, Rennes hosted newly-promoted Boulogne-sur-Mer. Only ten minutes in the game, Marveaux chipped a ball over the defence towards Bangoura.

Instinctively, the “Syli National”’s striker managed a beautiful overhead kick, bouncing off Valverde’s left post before ending its run in the net. The Route de Lorient was on fire, and Bangoura rushed to share his joy with the fans, showing a wristband bearing his country’s colours.

Guinea, the former Le Mans player’s country is currently stuck in instability after the death of President Lansana Conté in December 2008. Under Moussa Dadis Camara’s dictatorship, the Republic of Guinea lives in terror, and the consequences are clear on the player’s attitude. By all means, he would never come back to the level that was his as the season started, when he showed decisive in Nice (1-1, creating a penalty) and Lens (2-2, a goal).

From the end of October, Bangoura started alternating between the subs bench and Ligue 1 start. Worse, he had to wait for four months before scoring again. Against Paris Saint Germain, he was at the end of a pass from Tettey to offer the club a comforting victory, in one of the first really convincing games under Antonetti’s management. The relationship between the two men was mostly made of conflicts however.

Limited Trust

Delighted at Bangoura’s arrival, Antonetti did not hide his enthusiasm when talking about his future collaboration with the player at his arrival : "We were looking for a man able to play at all three attacking positions and scoring goals. Even plying on the wings, Ismaël is able to score. His profile was highly interesting to us”, the Corsican manager declared to the club’s official website in August 2009.

Facts were different however, and Bangoura did not manage to live up to the expectations born from his transfer in his first season. With Gyan showing renewed efficiency in the centre-forward position, the Guinean was logically positioned on the right flank, and struggled to show all his potential in this position. An emotional player, he was probably expecting a bit more attention and comprehension, as the coaching staff starting to lose patience with the man’s nonchalance.

Unable to melt into the Rennes squad and into his manager’s tactics, Rennes was not against selling their African international as soon as the 2010 winter transfer window. Qatari teams, and especially Al Saad were ready to bet high money on Bangoura. But information requests did not end up on a final transfer or even a loan.

Antonetti’s patience being very limited, the African was often the victim of his manager’s outbursts. It happened fairly often last season, and again this year when Rennes hosted Saint-Étienne (0-0). Best goal scorer of the team so far with two goals, Bangoura was too long, according to the coach, to get ready when he was called from the bench. Frustrated by the way the game was going and by the player’s attitude, he told off in public from his technical area: "If you’re that strong, show it! I’m bored with the moaning!”. A sentence sounding like the final break between Bangoura and the Stade Rennais.

A departure wished by… both parts

The future of Bangoura, Rennes’ top goal scorer with two goals in this early season, isn’t with the “Rouge et Noir” anymore. Three days before the League opening against Lille, Pierre Dréossi placed his player on the transfer list, by declaring him transferable on RMC. Certainly irritated by the situation, the player replied in the best of ways by scoring his team’s only goal against Lille (1-1).

So was Bangoura’s August, keeping on playing for Rennes while knowing the club was trying to find him an exit destination. After another goal in Nancy (0-3), most of the team came to encourage him and congratulate him, despite the feeling of an unavoidable transfer.

In the last hours of the transfer window, as Rennes sold Gyan to Sunderland, the general feeling was that Bangoura would stay in Brittany despite Al Nasr’s (United Arab Emirates) pressing interest. The day after Gyan’s departure, Dréossi reached a point of no return with « Bang Bang » : "Ideally, we would have preferred to keep Asamoah Gyan for another year and sell Ismaël Bangoura. But the market decided otherwise”. This was only a short delay, as an agreement was found 24 hours later with Al Nasr, for an eight million euro transfer, and consequently, the Stade Rennais got rid of one of its biggest salaries.

All competitions included, Bangoura played only 42 games with Rennes with Rennes, scoring nine goals. Not such a bad summary, but far below the expectation born from the club’s investment. At Arles-Avignon (0-1), Bangoura played his final game with the “Rouge et Noir”, replacing Gyan twenty minutes before the end of the game. Three days later, both players were no longer at the club. As a symbol of the final hours in Rennes’ summer transfer window.