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The mere presence of Eduardo Camavinga made the next league match a secondary activity. At the Stade Rennes press conference on Thursday, representatives of the French media cared little about their next opponent, Girondins Bordeaux. But above all of the boy. He was sitting in front of reporters for the first time and had missed the last four games with a thigh injury.
“It allowed me to take a deep breath and focus on the essentials,” Camavinga reflected on his failure. During the break he had celebrated his 18th birthday and obtained his driver’s license. In the evening, Camavinga should help Chelsea against FC Chelsea (18:55, TV: Dazn) to hibernate Rennes in the European Cup after just one point from their first three Champions League games.
While the Bundesliga is discussing a historically anticipated debut for Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko, Camavinga has lived up to optimistic expectations of his development in France’s Ligue 1 for two years.
“But I myself am still a child”
At 17, nine months and 29 days old, Camavinga became the youngest French international in post-war history on 8 September. In the 4-2 win over Croatia, national team coach Didier Deschamps replaced him for N’Golo Kanté. “It’s a childhood dream for me,” Camavinga said before his first assignment for Les Bleus. “Yet I myself am still a child.”
Camavinga soon learned modesty. The son of Congolese parents was born in Angola in an emergency shelter for refugees. When he was two, the family came to France. Father Celestino found work in a slaughterhouse, the Camavingas settled near Fougères, where his son started playing football. In 2013, the house the family had built burned down completely. In the same year, Eduardo Camavinga joined the youth team of Stade Rennes.
Camavinga owes its first breakthrough above all to Julien Stéphan. The 40-year-old former professional and former junior coach in Rennes for six years, replaced Sabri Lamouchi as head coach in December 2018. Stéphan integrated the then 16-year-old Camavinga into the first team and in April the following year became the first player of the 2002 class in a top 5 league.
In the defensive midfield Camavinga became a regular player. There, despite his lanky stature, he was particularly convincing as a two-person fighter who prevented attacks with the help of skillful tackles. 105 duels won in this way meant the highest figure in Ligue 1 last season, according to whoscored.com.
Meanwhile, you see him less and less as a mere destroyer in the face of the defensive chain. Since the arrival of midfield veteran Steven Nzonzi in January, Stéphan has often used her model student in the front row. Then Nzonzi patrols in front of the defense, Benjamin Bourigeaud occupies the attacking midfield and Camavinga, central third in the base order 4-1-4-1, ensures that the ball is carried forward from the defensive.
His excellent understanding of the game helps him. Sometimes it seems that he is three or four seconds ahead of his teammates and opponents when Camavinga runs free to pass a colleague who has not yet received the ball. He keeps an eye on the game with many looks behind him and positions himself in such a way that he can always act as a passing station to make sure the ball stays in the flow.
If Camavinga gets the ball, it can hardly be separated from it. His acceleration, tight ball control and tremendous mobility allowed him to spray small feints and dribbles over and over to escape the opponent’s attack and carry the ball forward. His passes are generally powerful, flat and quick, which is what the Bretons’ substitution game benefits from.
His style does not make the left foot a spectacular player or a game creator. But to one that many modern coaches would like. Almost every top European side is said to have been interested in signing the big talent over the past year, especially rumors of a move to Real Madrid persist.
His departure is only a matter of time
In terms of sport, Camavinga has gradually overtaken Brittany. Despite the financial strength of billionaire François-Henri Pinault, whose holding company is owned by the Artémis Stade Rennes, Camavinga’s main club remains a sales club. Shortly after the start of the season, Rennes lost goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, who moved to Chelsea for 24 million in September and now faces his former colleagues as a Champions League opponent.
Even so, it may take a while for Camavinga to leave the club. The French sports daily “L’Equipe” reports that the contract will be extended until 2023. This too would not be a guarantee that the company will remain, but it would be a bargaining chip in the transfer negotiations. “It’s the club that trained me. Being here makes me happy, “Camavinga finally smiled at the cameras. He’s in no hurry to leave Rennes.
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