MANCHESTER UNITED have been caught spying on two young stars from Rennes after a recent scouting mission was rumbled by a French journalist earlier this month.
The Red Devils’ talent spotter was detected at Rennes’ 1-0 win at Paris FC on 7 November and gave up the identities of the players he had been sent to watch.
Centre-back Jeremy Jacquet and striker Mohamed Kader Meite, who both played alongside Leny Yoro for France’s Under-21 side this week, were the targets for the trip.
Jacquet, 20, is having a brilliant season and has not missed a single minute of playing time for the unglamorous French outfit.
A recent comparison of his performances against the best U21 central defenders in Europe saw him come first for interceptions and possession won, second for percentage of aerial duels won, and third for touches and passes completed.
Arsenal were strongly linked with a move for Jacquet last summer, a few months after he extended his contract with Rennes through to 2029, but they signed Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie instead.
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Kader Meite is just as exciting a prospect, although he is still a bit raw.
The 18-year-old, who is the cousin of ex-Cardiff and Reading forward Yakou Meite, has scored twice in 11 appearances for Rennes this season and most of those have been off the bench.
French journalist Francois Rauzy covers the Ligue 1 club and revealed how he came to speak to Man Utd’s top French scout Steve Head this week.
“A little anecdote from the press box on Friday at Paris FC,” he told the ICI Armorique podcast.
“In the press box right in front of us, there are the scouts who are often there, the recruiters, to watch two or three players. And there’s a guy who passes a scout who goes over the barrier and says, ‘Should I take a match sheet?’ In English, I mean, I want to watch the players.
“So, bam, I grab him. I say to him, “Who do you work for? Who did you come to see?
“Anyway, at first he didn’t tell me too much, but I managed to get the information out.
“Well, there’s not much of a surprise, but it was a scout from Manchester United who was there for Jacquet and Kader Meite. Not very surprising.
“He said ‘Who do you think I came to see play?’
“I said ‘Jacquet and Meite’, he told me ‘bingo’ – so there you go.”
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