On paper, this sounds like a revolution. To succeed Julien Stéphan, as indicated by L'Equipe and confirmed by France Bleu Armorique, Stade Rennais reached an agreement this Thursday evening with the Argentinian Jorge Sampaoliwho is preparing to disembark on the banks of Vilaine, unless there is a last minute turnaround. In a club which, historically, thrives far from the tumult, the choice of this profile known to be volcanic is surprising.
An impressive CV but mixed recent experiences
He becomes the first foreign coach in Rennes since 2006 and the departure of Laszlo Boloni, and the first non-French speaking coach of the club since the Second World War, a condition that some regulars at La Piverdière recently considered still essential to be hired by the owner François Pinault, who likes to be able to converse directly and regularly with his coaches. The recruitment of Jorge Sampaoli, after the study of numerous profiles, some of which are very different from the former Albiceleste coach, would, according to our information, have consensus with President Arnaud Pouille and sports director Frederic Massara, before being validated by the shareholder. The duration of the contract has not been communicated to us at this time. The name of former French international Samir Nasri, whom the Argentinian coached at Sevilla, is circulating to accompany him, without an agreement having been reached at this stage. Nasri's name had already been circulated in Rennes a year ago, when Bruno Genesio wanted to make him his assistant, without succeeding.
Jorge Sampaoli's CV undoubtedly has few equals among the coaches who have worked at Stade Rennais: Chilean champion in 2011 with the Universidad de Chile, winner of the Copa América with Chile in 2015third (behind Luis Enrique and Pep Guardiola) in the FIFA Best Coach Award the same year, he also led the Argentina selection during the 2018 World Cup, beaten by the Blues in a memorable round of 16 (4-3) . At the helm of OM, he finished 2nd in Ligue 1 during the 2021/2022 season and lost in the Conference League semi-final. Since then, his experiences in Seville (Spain) and Flamengo (Brazil) have ended in two failures and a departure only five months after his arrival. In the Stade Rennais entourage, some fear the marriage of carp and rabbit, while others are satisfied to see the arrival of a personality capable of moving the lines.
Questions still remained this Thursday about the possibility of seeing Jorge Sampaoli on the bench on Sunday for the reception in Toulouse, and the trend was rather pessimistic. If he had to wait, he would make his debut with Rennes on the Lille side, facing a certain Bruno Genesio. This would be a strange wink from destiny: the Argentinian made his debut in Ligue 1 with OM on March 10, 2021, against Bruno Genesio's Stade Rennais, who also started on the Rouge et Noir bench .
