Twenty-one goals, and a queue forming behind him
Twenty-one goals in Ligue 1 last season. Esteban Lepaul stood out in a league where the golden boot rarely slips away from the two or three biggest clubs. He joined Stade Rennais barely a year ago for around 13 million euros. He is worth a good deal more than that today.
Summer did nothing to slow him. A hat-trick in a friendly against Galatasaray, then a goal on Sunday night against Paris Saint-Germain on the opening weekend. At 26 he fills a box French football almost never manages to tick: a penalty-area finisher who scores every week.
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Arnaud Pouille shuts the door
Speaking to RMC Sport, the Breton club’s executive president left no room for interpretation. “Esteban is one of the three players we said would not leave this summer. That covered our striker, our goalkeeper and our young centre-back. Esteban knows that,” Arnaud Pouille said.
He kept going. “There is no desire from his side to leave, and none from ours either. We always try to keep our key players, and I hope we will prove we can keep him in eight days.” Then the line that settles it: “Esteban will be a Rennes player on September 2.” Pouille says the owners, the Pinault family, the head coach and the sporting director are all reading from the same page.
Eight days to hold the line
The window shuts on September 1. Several European outlets have reported Spanish interest in recent weeks, with Atletico Madrid leading the chase. Lepaul recently extended the five-year deal he signed on arrival, which puts Rennes in a strong spot without ruling out some obscene late bid.
There is a second storyline running underneath. Zinedine Zidane has his first France squads to name and the team is short of a natural number nine. A call-up would send the Rennes man’s stock up again. The club is counting days.
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