First team

Trained at the club’s academy, this athletic player can equally play as a defensive midfielder or as a central defender. Often injured during his early Ligue 1 career with Rennes, he actually managed to make his way into the first team, player as an anchor in midfield, and despite the competition at this position. In winter 2006, he is pushed back to play along John Mensah in central defence, immediately forming a very complementary partnership with the Ghanaian. Considered as a high potential player, “Boubou” has already won many titles in the youth categories. Severy injured at the end of the 2006-2007 season, he eventually decides to sign a contract with Paris Saint-Germain, in July 2007.

Arrived in Rennes in summer 2005, Amadou Coulibaly was soon left on the sidelines after a serious injury, which condemned him to a nearly void first season. The powerful right back tried his best afterwards, to try and get his chance in the first team, but numerous injuries hindered his ambitions in Rennes. He eventually left the club in 2007, two years after he first arrived, with no appearance in the professional team and only a handful of games with the Reserve.

Arrived in Rennes at the end of a disastrous month of August 2005, the Swedish international full back brought immediate stability to a very shaky defence. Regular in his good performances and highly professional, Erik Edman was one of the most valuable players in the “Rouge et Noir” squad during his first season in Brittany. Unfortunately, he then failed to live up to his initial performances, and Pierre Dréossi opened the door to his exit in January 2008, when he was transferred back in England, at Wigan Athletic.

A member and Captain of the 2003 Gambardella Cup winning team, “Doudou” Jacques Faty has confirmed the hopes put on him, little by a little. His good performances in Renne’s central defence made him a regular in the French U21 selection. However, Mensah’s recruitment and Bourillon’s repositioning as a centre back left him mainly on the bench, casting a gloom over the end of his 2005-2006 season. Tempted to leave the club during the 2006 summer, Jacques Faty eventually decided to stay in Rennes for another season, and profited of numerous injuries in the defensive line to gather playtime. At the end of his contract, he joined Marseille in June 2007.

Mario Melchiot, a 29 years old Dutch international, joined Rennes in July 2006, signing a one year contract in Brittany. Trained at the Ajax Amsterdam, he also played for Chelsea FC and Birmingham City FC. At the end of his contract with Birmingham, relegated in the Championship, Melchiot decided to use the French Ligue 1 to bounce back his career. At the end of an excellent season, he eventually decided to go back to England, signing a contract with Wigan to many supporters’ dismay A versatile defender, mostly playing at right back, the former Chelsea man has won one FA Cup and a Charity Shield.

A Moroccan international Abdeslam Ouaddou struggled to prove he had the ability to be in charge of Rennes’ defence. The target of many criticisms during his stay in Rennes, particularly because of his many defensive blunders, he was left on the bench by the combination of an injury and the emergence of Mensah and Bourillon’s partnership. At the end of his contract, he eventually decided to sign in Greece, for Oympiakos Piraeus, before coming to Ligue 1 soon, signing in Valenciennes.

Trained as a defensive midfielder, Pajot is characterised, on the pitch, by high work rate and disconcerting maturity for a player of his age. A member of the 1990 generation and a 2008 Gambardella Cup winner, Pajot went on to become one of the base-men in Laurent Huard’s Reserve team, even receiving the captain’s armband for the 2009-2010 season. At the term of his intern contract, he signed his first professional deal for a year, with an option for another two years. Eager to toughen up at professional level, he was loaned to Boulogne-sur-Mer for the 2010-season.