Ligue 1: Julien Stephan denies rumors: “Kalimuendo will remain Rennes”

Rennes, which is trying to relaunch its season, when welcoming Marseille on Sunday (9:05 p.m.), in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France, is only in 10th place in Ligue 1, far from the European places they are hoping for . However, one player is particularly in good shape and has largely contributed to the last three Breton successes: Arnaud Kalimuendo.

The 22-year-old striker, who attracts several European clubs such as Eintracht Frankfurt, should ultimately stay in Morbihan for this second part of the season. “Arnaud is part of the project (...). He is Rennes, he will remain Rennes and he will bring us a lot, a lot in the second part of the season,” insisted coach Julien Stephan after the great victory against Nice (2-0), in the championship, last weekend. .

The striker trained at Paris SG was once again decisive, scoring the second goal, after his equalizer against Clermont (3-1), just before the break, and his double against Guingamp (2-0), in the 32nd of Cup final. A success which contrasts with a first half of the season where he was in tune with his team. Scorer against Metz (5-1) and decisive passer at Lens (1-1), his former club, for the first two days, and scorer again in the derby against Nantes (3-1), he was then silent during the eight days following, the Bretons only gleaning four points.

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A meager record for the striker who arrived in 2022 and whose first season, disrupted by injuries, was punctuated by 7 goals and 5 assists in 38 matches played, in all competitions. “For Kalimuendo, I think it will be a good season,” Bruno Genesio nevertheless said last summer, before leaving the ship during the international break in November.

The arrival of Stephan on the bench and a tactical change seemed to further complicate the task of the attacker, alone up front. Playing with three central defenders and a single point was “not optimal for its use”, Stephan also recognized.

At the break in the match in Clermont, while Rennes was trailing 1-0, but playing in numerical superiority, the coach decided to go back to four at the back to place Désiré Doué near his center forward. Seven minutes later, he equalized. The entire game of the Rouge et Noir benefited from this tactical shift, the attack suddenly becoming more fluid and above all sharper.

“Having (a player nearby) helps him. And as he is a team player, he is a player capable of moving in relation to another partner, that also gives interesting combined movements, admitted Stephan. With his recent goals, he is rewarded for all his generosity, for his collective spirit (...), he does not hesitate on the defensive level, far from it, he makes a lot of effort,” the technician further underlined.

For the main person concerned, what made it click was “the work! I work a lot in front of goal, he explained. There are a lot of things in the first part of the season that were missed, but that's also part of the life of a group, of the life of a club, where you have to know how to stay united in these kinds of moments. , because it necessarily strengthens you in one way or another,” he said.

His difficulties, however, did not dissuade the Frankfurt club, in the Bundesliga, from spending more than 20 million euros to secure his services this winter. An amount which is not enough to turn the heads of Rennes who bought it almost as much from PSG, but which did not leave Kalimuendo indifferent. “It’s always nice to see that we are in demand, especially by a great team,” he admitted after the victory at Guingamp. “For now, I’m here. It's Sunday, I'm a Stade Rennes player. I don’t know the future, only God knows, so I take it day by day,” he added.