There have been no official contacts yet between Real Madrid and Stade Rennes. But the foundations for a future operation are already laid because yes there was an approach by Real Madrid through Juni Calafat. After a first survey of the Camavinga environment, the white entity already knows that it is ready to leave. Rennes has a firm position: it does not want to sell. All the cards are on the table and those who have below are the main actors of what aims to be the soap opera of the summer.
François Pinault (83 years old).
He is the tycoon owner of the Rennes, the third fortune in all of France. It is estimated that he has a fortune of 37,500 million euros and is at number 37 on the Forbes list (It owns large companies such as Gucci, Yves Saint Lurent, Puma or FNAC …). He bought the club in 2008. In 2017, after the removal of the previous president, Letang gave up the reins of the club to his son François-Henri.
CHARLES PLATIAU (REUTERS)
François-Henri Pinault (57 years old).
It has more and more weight in the decisions of the Artemis group, which brings together all the father's companies. The patriarch already watches from a distance what he does in the Stade Rennes. He is married to Salma Hayek and they form one of the preferred pairs of French coated paper. Before, he was with Linda Evangelista, with whom he has a son. His involvement in the fight against diseases such as ALS is widely recognized, which has united him in recent years to Zidane.
FRANCK FIFE (AFP)
Zinedine Zidane (47 years old).
It can play a very important role. Not only because of his friendship with François-Henri Pinault, who was on the verge of taking Odegaard on loan to Rennes when the Norwegian was only 17 years old, but also because Camavinga is really his endeavor. He was right when he recommended the signing of Varane from Lens when he was only 18 years old. Just one call from Zidane to Camavinga would be enough for him to choose Madrid over other offers. Her friendship with François-Henri lasts more than a decade. They have been seen together in multiple acts and in the Stade de France box on more than one occasion.
STEPHANE MAHE (REUTERS)
Moussa Sissoko.
He is not well known to the general public but he is one of the most influential representatives of the French market. He doesn't have a great representation company behind him like Jonathan Barnett can. It usually takes players from the suburbs of the big cities. It is closely related to Rennes. From there he took Dembelé. He looks a lot at the fate of his men beyond the money that the transfer may bring to him. It tries to open a gap in the Spanish market.
Juni Calafat
He is responsible for international football for Real Madrid. Closely linked to the Brazilian market, it has more and more weight in all international signings, especially of young people. It has been him who has contacted the Camavinga family and his representative and who has been following him up in base tournaments in recent years. The cost of transfers recommended by him lately is rising, as has happened with Vinicius (45 million), Rodrygo (40) or Reinier (30).
DAILY AS (DAILY AS)
Nicolas Holveck (48 years old).
Appointed President on March 18, 2020. Former Vice President of Nancy, former CEO of Monaco. He stepped on the Rennes sports city, the Piverdière, just a few days ago. The explosion of the coronavirus crisis had only allowed him to work at a distance. He has a direct order from the Pinault patriarch that Camavinga is not for sale. And a difficult task: try its renovation
THOMAS SAMSON (AFP)
Florian Maurice (46 years old).
Future sports director, current manager of transfers of Lyon and head of the scouting department. His arrival at Rennes has been confirmed in the press by Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Lyon, although at the moment it remains unofficial. He dealt with Real Madrid when he signed Mariano Díaz in 2017 for 8 million, to sell him to Real Madrid in 2018 for 33 million plus another 3 in variables. He will push to get the largest slice of Camavinga and then make other additions.
ROMAIN LAFABREGUE (AFP)
Julien Stéphan (39 years old).
Rennes head coach. He had Camavinga in the subsidiary and made him debut in Ligue1, being the earliest player in the club's history to do so. Every time he speaks in the media, he makes it clear that he doesn't want Camavinga to leave this summer. On October 2, the day before playing in the Olympics against Lazio, he was very appreciative of the Angolan-born media: “Camavinga is the best player on the team.” The boy was not yet 17 years old.
FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI (AFP)
Mathieu Le Scornet (37 years old).
Stéphan's assistant. The discoverer of Camavinga, the first time he saw him play wanted to sign him, he did it when he was 10 years old. Then he was his coach on the Rennes U-13 team. Camavinga says: “Mathieu is from my family.” He could be the most important person in the midfielder's training. He does not miss any of his birthday parties and, to this day, he is the greatest sentimental bond that Camavinga has with Stade Rennes.