Joris GNAGNON

Joris Gnagnon arrived at Stade Rennais in July 2014. Having been previously trialled notably by AS Saint Etienne, this centre-back arrived from Montfermeil where he was coached by Valère Laurent, former Scout at Stade Rennais. He was called into the First Team squad by Philippe Montanier on 18th October 2015 against Nice for the first time in his career. On Wednesday 16th March 2016, he signed his first professional contract for 3 years with the club. Having quickly succeeded in beating off the strong competition in his position, he extended his contract for two further seasons on 25th January 2017. Improving all the time to the end of the 2017/2018 season, where he was a leader in the defence which secured Europa League qualification, he became the club’s most-expensive defender on 25 July 2018, signing for FC Sevilla for 15 Million Euros after 79 appearances, and scoring 4 goals for Rennes. He struggled in Andalucia though, with strong competition for places, and returned to Brittany on loan without a buyout clause on 26th August 2019. Gnagnon made 31 appearances in a generally flat season for the central defender, in the face of competition from Jérémy Morel, his main highlight being his memorable goalscoring exploit against Lazio. The Europa League match was marked by his first brace in professional football. His loan-spell and season both came to an end when the championship was called to a halt in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.