Rennes Sporting Director: “We were hoping to sell Camavinga for more money”

Eduardo Camavinga has achieved a dream at just 18-years-old. The Angolan born Frenchman is now officially a Real Madrid player. The operation was closed for around €31 million with additional undisclosed variable bonuses. With just one year remaining on his current deal, some reports indicated that Camavinga would wait until January and sign a pre-agreement with a potential new club, meaning his hometown club of Rennes would miss out on any profit. But, fortunately for both club and player - Real Madrid came knocking and a fee was agreed. In a press conference held this morning, following Camavinga’s departure, Rennes sporting director, Florian Maurice, opened up on the deal.

“We were hoping to sell Camavinga more expensively,” Maurice explained. “ Much of the fee, depends on the bonuses, like Eduardo’s participation, the club’s performances, etc. There are a number of important bonuses that may allow Rennes to earn a little bit of money in the future, and a small percentage of a possible future resale.”

The sporting director then went on to describe the pace at which the deal escalated from mere talks to a finalized agreement. “It was very, very fast. Just 48 - 72 hours before, he had already started negotiating with Real Madrid. For the club, for the player, it is something that ends as a positive. I have always said that I did not want Eduardo to go for free. Neither did he, actually, his family did not want that either. What has happened is great. In today’s context, he could have said: ‘I will wait six months before signing somewhere and I’m going free.’ All the credit goes to Eduardo to reach a club like Real Madrid. For me, he is going to the biggest club in the world. For him, it is deserved, although he has had a season that has been difficult both in football and outside of sport. A lot has happened around him. He is a top-level guy, a top-level player ”.

Florian Maurice went on to describe his pride at potentially seeing two Rennes products, Dembele and Camavinga, in the upcoming Clasico. “Real Madrid will give Camavinga the means to become a great player,” Maurice revealed. “For Rennes, selling a player to Real Madrid is also a very good thing. We were talking about a Clasico with some players trained at Stade Rennes (Camavinga and Dembele), it’s fantastic. It ends very well, I am very happy for him. He deserves it, the club did the right thing. A few months ago, we would have expected to necessarily sell it a little more expensive, but in the current context, it is a very interesting sale, I think it is even the largest transfer that is made in France,” Maurice concluded.

Camavinga’s will to join Real Madrid was clear. All three parties agreed on the transfer and the 18-year-old becomes Real Madrid’s second major signing in two years.