Eduardo Camavinga will be "the best midfielder in the world" according to his agent Jonathan Barnett, who says that the Rennes prodigy will likely cost any suitor more than €50 million (£43.5m/$60m).
The teenager, widely hailed as one of the best young players in world football, will also only leave his current Ligue 1 home for "four or five clubs" with Real Madrid and Barcelona both potential destinations according to his representative.
Angola-born Camavinga, who made his senior debut for the France national team last year, has enjoyed another superb season with Julien Stephan's side but is widely expected to be the subject of a move this summer.
What has been said?
"At the moment, he's a Rennes player," Barnett exclusively told Goal. "He likes Rennes and, at the moment, we haven´t really taken to other clubs. It isn’t our position.
"Let’s see what happens later on, but he’s doing well in Rennes and that’s fine. Being the best midfielder in the world, that’s how I see his future, [with] a lot of medals and a lot of trophies."
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Barnett also sidestepped speculation that Madrid remains Camavinga's destination of choice, though he acknowledged it remains one of a select few options while adding that he expects any transfer to command a massive fee.
"[Madrid are] a great club, a great club to play for," he added. "Eduardo will have a choice of a lot of clubs if Rennes decides to release him. They will be one of the four of five clubs in the world he might go to.
"Eduardo would love to play for a top club. Madrid are one of those top clubs in the world, so are Barcelona."
Asked if Camavinga would cost more than €50m, he added: "I would think so."
The bigger picture
While Rennes secured Champions League football last season, they currently sit fifth in Ligue 1, more than a dozen points behind third-place Lyon in the qualification spots for Europe's top club competition.
While the prospect of Europa League football is nothing to be sniffed it, it does suggest that Camavinga's desire to test himself at the very top may make him open to a major move from the side who brought him through their youth ranks.
However, Rennes may struggle to attact the kind of fee Barnett suggests, particularly in a Covid-19-affected transfer landscape where financial situations for many clubs are more precarious than before.
That said, reports previously suggested that Camavinga intended to snub heavyweight suitors for a new deal at Rennes as recently as January, indicating that he may be happy to remain with them for the near-future.
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