It has been another year of mixed fortunes for Rennes left-back Adrien Truffert. The 23-year-old Belgium-born fullback remains a vital cog for his formative club. His availability, vast experience at a young age and evident skillset in a sought-after role make Truffert a regular in the transfer gossip pages.
This summer, reports claimed Liverpool and Manchester United were interested in the Rennes youth product, seen as a possible understudy for more senior left-backs like Andrew Robertson or Luke Shaw. Get French Football News also broke the story that PSG were interested in Truffert – which falls in line with Les Parisiens’ sporting policy to sign young French talents – to provide cover for the injury-hit Nuno Mendes and Lucas Hernandez.
It is so far an honest assessment of Truffert’s standing as a promising left-back once billed as a prodigy, making his Champions League debut at only 18 and donning France’s blue jersey at 20 in the Nations League. But Rennes’ struggles in Ligue 1 this year have dented Truffert’s reputation although, to be fair, the drop in proven quality within the squad – with the likes of Arthur Theate, Benjamin Bourigeaud, Martin Terrier, Fabian Rieder, Enzo Le Fée and Désiré Doué all leaving in the same transfer window – is an mitigating circumstance.
Truffert uncomfortable in advanced role
As a consequence, his numbers have dipped. He is yet to register a single goal contribution for Rennes this season off the back of his run to the silver medal with Thierry Henry’s France Olympic team at the 2024 Paris Summer Games.
Furthermore, Julien Stéphan’s tactical tweaks, switching from a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond midfield, trialled in pre-season, to a 3-4-3 with Truffert in a more advanced wingback role, seem to have partly hindered the France international’s qualities. “I’m aware I have performed below my standards”, Truffert said in a pre-game presser. “The change in system also meant that I played in a position where I felt a little less comfortable.”
Despite Stéphan reverting to a back-four, Truffert was as disappointing as his Rennes teammates in back-to-back Ligue 1 losses against Auxerre (4-0) and Toulouse (2-0), prompting Les Rouge et Noir to appoint Jorge Sampaoli in the dugout. It is still early days for the Argentine in Brittany, but given Truffert’s dip in form, the former Chile and Sevilla manager is tempted to give more minutes to promising left-back and academy product Mahamadou Nagida (19).
Considering he will enter his final contract year next summer with a team – and a club as a whole – regressing, it may be time for Truffert to prove elsewhere he is yet to approach the heights he was once destined to reach.
