Rennes open talks over ‘possible signing’ of Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori — reports

On the back of an historic season — and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic — Stade Rennais are gearing up for the new season alongside the rest of Ligue 1. For the first time in their history, they will be playing Champions League football, thanks to a third place finish in the truncated Ligue 1, their highest final league placement of all time.

And that means they need some reinforcements, including at center back where they’ve lost two key contributors from last season. Jérémy Morel, 36 went back to his childhood club, Lorient, for a farewell tour, while Joris Gnagnon returned to his parent club, Sevilla after a successful loan stint.

After striking out on a couple primary targets, Rennes are in scramble mode with two weeks to go until the start of the season, and casting their net far and wide — as far as London, even, as per L’Equipe (via GFFN).

According to their report, Petr Čech’s former club “have opened talks over the possible signing” of Fikayo Tomori, which is a pretty vague assertion, but one that can’t be immediately dismissed given reports from last month of the 22-year-old not being exempt from the chopping block as Chelsea look to sell-to-buy to improve the defense. While Tomori should be the least expendable of the four center backs thanks to his age and potential, he’s also the one most likely to be able to be loaned out for a season and make room for a new signing.

That’s still a slightly far-fetched story, but Tomori hasn’t played for Lampard since February, and while that’s been in part due to injury and he had been back on the bench for the last handful of matches, it does leave room for rumor-mongering.