Leeds United sold eight players in the summer and two of those met for the first time since waving goodbye to Elland Road – but it came against each other in France’s Ligue 1.
Archie Gray, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter did not miss out on the Premier League despite Leeds‘ loss in the play-off final. They joined Tottenham, West Ham and Brighton for a fee north of £100m.
Marc Roca made his loan permanent at Real Betis and was then joined by Diego Llorente, while Polish goalkeeper Kris Klaesson joined Rakow. Klaesson has already left Rakow and joined Danish side Aarhus.
The other two moved to France in the form of Charlie Cresswell and Glen Kamara. The latter joined Ligue 1 side Rennes and made Leeds an immediate profit, doubling what the club paid Rangers a year earlier.
Charlie Cresswell wins reunion with old Leeds pal Glen Kamara
Meanwhile, Cresswell left Leeds after a season in which the England U21 man was meant to shine for his boyhood club. Instead, Farke called Cresswell out publicly and he only managed seven appearances.
A £3.8m move was arranged with Cresswell making the surprise move to Toulouse. On Sunday afternoon, Toulouse travelled to Rennes with both sides making indifferent starts to the 2024-24 campaign.
Rennes have lost four of the last six while Toulouse have been up and down. Home advantage and that Rennes are seen as a better side, it was Kamara’s men that were expected to win – but Toulouse did, 2-0.
Cresswell shines as Kamara struggles once again for Rennes
Not only have Rennes made a poor start, but so has Kamara. Last week, Kamara was given a 2/10 rating for his performance in a 4-0 loss to Auxerre in which the Finland international was hooked at half-time.
Ao Tanaka has already had more shots than Kamara for Leeds. On Sunday, Kamara was poor again and lasted until the 62nd minute while Cresswell enjoyed one of his best outings since joining Toulouse.
Charlie Cresswell v Glen Kamara stats as Toulouse win 2-0
Minutes | Passing | Tackles | Defensive actions | Chances created | FM rating | |
Glen Kamara | 90 | 42/45 (93%) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6.1 |
Charlie Cresswell | 62 | 26/33 (79%) | 1 | 13 | 0 | 7.6 |
Cresswell had been playing on the right of a back three but after being rinsed by Mason Greenwood in a loss to Marseille, he has moved to the more-natural role of middle of a back three – and it’s worked.
Toulouse secured a 2-0 win with goals coming from ex-Manchester United, Bournemouth and Everton star Josh King opening the scoring before Aron Donnum made it 2-0 soon after as Cresswell impressed.
Leave a Reply