Kamaldeen: New Rennes signing draws Asamoah Gyan comparison

Veteran Ghanaian coach Joseph Emmanuel Sarpong is backing new Rennes acquisition Kamaldeen Sulemana to follow in the footsteps of Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan and reach stardom.

The 19-year-old is the latest Ghanaian to join the French outfit after sealing a five-year deal from Danish outfit Nordsjaelland on Friday.

Gyan, Ghana’s all-time top scorer and most capped player, featured for Rennes between 2008 and 2010, as did John Boye and John Mensah.

“Asamoah Gyan and other Ghanaian players started from there and I believe he is following their footsteps,” Sarpong told Bryt FM.

“Ghanaian players normally play for Rennes because they embrace Ghanaian talent, so I think it is good on the part of the player not to secure a move to a bigger team.

“I believe Rennes will help him [Kamaldeen] a lot and he will be able to learn a lot there going forward. I think it is a good choice for him and the club can help him develop into a world star.

“Kamaldeen is very young, so joining Rennes will help him develop well. If he had joined a club like Liverpool, he could have struggled and will be farmed out on loan just like that.”

Kamaldeen’s move to Rennes is reportedly worth €20 million. He was linked to Dutch giants Ajax, Liverpool, Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen before ultimately settling for the Ligue 1 fold.  

“I’m very excited to be in this amazing club. The project here caught my heart and I just want to be here to help the team and help myself grow as a player, so I’m very happy and looking forward to the challenge here," the teenager told his new club's media on the switch.

“I’m very direct, I’m fast, I’m skilful and I can score a lot of goals so fans looking at me, be expecting goals.

“I had not heard much about them [Rennes] until they played in the Champions League with the young talent. They caught my eye. They showed interest in me, the project the coach told me about, and I just felt this was the right place for me, so I chose here.”

Last season, Kamaldeen netted 10 times and provided four assists for Nordsjaelland in the Danish Superliga.