Once more, the outgoing deals that we thought Tottenham Hotspur were close to making happen aren’t actually the ones that are happening. This afternoon, Fabrizio Romano is out with a tweet that says Ligue 1 side Rennes are close to a loan agreement for central defender Joe Rodon.
Rennes are set to sign Joe Rodon on loan from Tottenham, deal expected to be completed soon. Been told the deal also includes a buy option worth €20m. #THFC
Deal at final stages, first called by @mcgrathmike – while Arthur Theate completed medical tests with Rennes today. pic.twitter.com/ZTBz3QUb87
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 28, 2022
Romano gives credit to Mike McGrath, who first broke the story of Rennes’ interest about an hour or so ago. Romano has a lot more detail, however.
So we’ve known that Joe was a target for a loan or purchase this window. Although Antonio Conte has said that he likes him, it’s clear that he probably wasn’t seen for a ton of playing time this season unless something happened to Eric Dier. Still, I’m surprised by a link to Rennes. Rodon had previously been connected to Fulham, which wasn’t GREAT but was at least a Premier League club.
I don’t watch a ton(nes) of Rennes but they did enough to beat Tottenham in the Europa Conference League last season and surprisingly finished fourth in Ligue 1, qualifying them for Europa this season.
The €20m purchase option is also interesting. It doesn’t FEEL like a lot of money, but Spurs bought Rodon from Swansea for £11m two seasons ago so this would actually represent a healthy return on their investment should Rennes exercise their option. That would still be a pretty significant outlay for Rennes, though — their record signing is €28m for Jeremy Doku. But if Joe does well in France, they might decide to exercise the option with an eye to flipping him back to England in a year or so for another healthy profit.
I’m a little sad that we never really got to see what Rodon could do in a Spurs shirt, but I suppose Rennesing away to France in search of playing time is the best thing for him and his development.
As always, this isn’t a done deal, but considering how fast the Dane Scarlett loan moved, we might wake up to Joe wearing black and red tomorrow morning.