Twenty-five names, and not one summer signing left out
Stade Rennais unveiled its UEFA squad list for the Europa League league phase on Friday. Twenty-five names in List A. Franck Haise has left none of his summer recruits out.
Boulaye Dia is in. The Senegal striker, Rennes’ last addition of the window, will be available from the off against Sturm Graz on September 16 in Austria. He joins an attack already featuring Mousa Al-Tamari, Arnaud Nordin, Eliezer Mayenda and Esteban Lepaul, Ligue 1’s top scorer.
At the back, the senior figures are there: Brice Samba and Nicolas Lemaître in goal, Charlie Cresswell, Quentin Merlin, Anthony Rouault and Bryan Reynolds in defence, Valentin Rongier, Ludovic Blas, Sebastian Szymanski and Adrien Thomasson in midfield.
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Seidu and Cisse survived the window, Nagida found another route
Two of the registrations were far from guaranteed. Alidu Seidu and Djaoui Cisse spent the whole summer with their futures up in the air. The latter even turned down Juventus on September 1, according to Foot Mercato. Both men are cleared for Europe.
One omission did raise eyebrows. Mahamadou Nagida does not appear on List A. Yet the left-back has been one of Rennes’ early-season bright spots, starting against Paris Saint-Germain and making a strong impact against Le Mans.
The mystery clears up fast. Born in 2005 and developed at the club since 2023, the Cameroon international meets UEFA’s List B criteria. That list is submitted at a different time and carries no squad-size limit for locally developed players. Nagida will play in Europe.
Eight games, eight opponents, and a fixture list that bites
Rennes head into this campaign with all their big names available. It is a luxury few French clubs can boast this season, with DNCG restrictions and the huge summer sales that have hit Ligue 1.
Keeping the pace is another matter. The league phase brings eight matches against eight different opponents, spread through to the end of January, on top of the league and domestic cups. Lepaul, who scored the late winner from the spot against Le Mans at the end of August, will be the one to watch.
The first real answer comes on September 16 in Graz.
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