Kone finalizing loan to French club Stade Rennes as time with Marseille coming to an end
Published
If Marseille didn’t want Ismaël Koné anymore, there was certainly a wintertime market to acquire the Canadian midfielder and he now appears close to making his next move as the January transfer window and loan closes Monday.
Sources tell TSN Koné is close to finalizing a loan to another French club, Stade Rennes. The deal could not be finalized on Sunday, but France’s window closes 5pm ET Monday.
If completed, the loan would cost Marseille $2.1 million with a buyout clause apparently set at $21 million. That buyout clause would be subject to Rennes escaping regelation from Ligue 1. The team currently sits 15th in France, two points clear of the bottom three teams. Rennes beat Strasbourg 1-0 on Sunday.
Several reports linked Koné with Rennes for much of the last week. Sources confirmed Fiorentina and Valencia were also pursuing Koné. Also on Sunday, Koné apparently turned down a move to Southampton, which sits last in the English Premier League.
The move to Rennes does not, however, come with any guarantees to play. But sources also said Rennes head coach Habib Beye is excited to bring Koné in, which would be in stark contrast to how Koné is leaving Marseille.
Koné's possible move comes two days after fellow Canadian international midfielder Tajon Buchanan was loaned out by Inter Milan to Villarreal. But the two moves are responses to the different challenges both players are facing: Buchanan could never capitalize on his late substitute appearances during lopsided Inter wins. By comparison, Kone was publicly rebuked a couple times by Marseille head coach Roberto De Zerbi.
De Zerbi first tried a gentler, albeit still direct, approach through the media last November when he publicly implied Koné wasn’t fulfilling his enormous potential in Ligue 1. Then when Koné made just one substitute appearance between late November and late January, De Zerbi removed Koné from training with his Marseille teammates.
“It’s the choice the club makes," De Zerbi said in French on January 24. "We wanted this player, he’s very strong, he’s a good lad, but… over the last few months, he hasn’t shown me that he’s capable of being part of this project. He’s got a lot of competition.”
Since being separated from the team’s starters, Koné has been training with Marseille’s assistant coaches. In total, Koné made only eight substitute league appearances for Marseille.
When TSN reached out to Koné's camp for a sense of how the 22-year-old is feeling, the response back was matter-of-fact. Koné is said to be “looking forward to the next step” and “ready to leave (Marseille).”