Florian Maurice 'imagined Kouassi would leave PSG to come to Rennes'

Rennes sporting director Florian Maurice has admitted he expected Tanguy Kouassi would join the club at a time his future with Paris Saint-Germain was up in the air.

The teenage centre-back made his senior breakthrough during the 2019-20 season, making six appearances in Ligue 1, and scored a brace in a 4-4 draw with Amiens.

He also had two outings in the Champions League, one of which was a 5-0 win over Galatasaray in the group stage, the other against Borussia Dortmund in the Round of 16.

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Kouassi had been in lengthy talks over a new professional contract with Thomas Tuchel's side while other clubs were interested in offering him a pre-contract since his PSG contract expires on June 30.

He, however, refused to commit and has chosen to join Bayern Munich.

"Kouassi, it was a great opportunity, when I arrived, I said: "We are going, we must go, it is an exceptional opportunity.", Maurice told Ouest-France

"I knew that with PSG it was going to be difficult, but frankly, I never imagined that he would leave Paris to go to Bayern. I imagined him leaving Paris to come to our place because I think the project suited him completely."

Maurice went on to assert that despite the interest Rennes had in Kouassi, he was never going to guarantee the Franco-Ivorian instant playing time.

"You are never guaranteed anything to a player, I am very honest with them, I never promise that they will play, no," he continued.

"One is the coach who makes the team. Two, it is not because you arrive that you will hold. I never say 'you're going to play so many matches', that would be lying.

"Kouassi, I think it was an opportunity compared to that, he will seek a little more playing time and I think that he was offered something very interesting.

"Then, with [coach] Julien [Stephan], we are also thinking about more experienced players. I cannot give a name, but we have identified players who are very difficult to get. We are on this type of profile too, we know that experience is also needed."

After Kouassi's switch to Bayern was confirmed, PSG coach Tuchel stated he was sad to see the defender go and at the same time did not understand his reasoning for the move.

"At 17 and without a professional contract, Tanguy played in our most important game against Borussia Dortmund," Tuchel told the press.

"We trusted him. He could play as a centre-back and defensive midfielder. Without doubt, he had a big future here.

"For me, he shouldn't have left now. I don't understand the reasoning and I'm sad."

PSG were crowned Ligue 1 champions for the third consecutive time after the season was cancelled at matchday 28 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

French clubs have, however, returned to training with the 2020-21 season scheduled to commence on the weekend of August 21-23.