Rennes face punishment for poaching young player

Rennes, the Ligue 1 club who are furious at what they believe to be Manchester City’s poaching off their young talent, have been found guilty of exactly the same offence.

The French side want a transfer ban to be imposed on the Premier League club after the Under-16 international Jérémy Hélan was lured to England.

However, they now face a fine themselves from France’s Ligue de Football Professional (LFP) after Tongo Hamed Doumbia joined them from Châteauroux in June.

Châteauroux’s administrative director, Bruno Allegre, accused Rennes of double standards.

“There are certain people who hand out lessons in morality to others but do not practice what they preach,” he told the Independent.

“Rennes like to think of themselves as an exemplary club, a moral leader which lectures others but, at the moment, they are not capable of sticking to those lessons. Either that or they are completely incapable of training young players because they seem to have to take them from other clubs.”

Doumbia, who was 19 when he moved, had been at Châteauroux for two years and was on an amateur contract at the club. Allegre claimed the player was obliged to sign full terms with the club.

Rennes are now liable to pay an undisclosed sum in compensation to Doumbia’s former Ligue 2 club.