While France failed to defend their World Cup title by a whisker in Qatar, on paper, they still are the strongest team currently to win it in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It is because of the immense talent that they have at their disposal. Please make no mistake, even without Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, Karim Benzema, and Lucas Hernandez, France almost won their World Cup title. And while some of the players will not play in the next edition, France have many options to choose from. One of them is Rennes’ left back, Adrien Truffert, who has truly burst onto the scene this season.
The 21-year-old, classified as a ‘wunderkind’ by data analytics site Soccerment, has been a mainstay in Rennes’ defence this season, helping them climb up to fourth in the Ligue 1 table. Due to performances like these, his name has started to be linked with top clubs.
So, who is Adrien Truffert, and how good is he?
How good is Adrien Truffert?
Adrien Truffert was born to French parents on November 20, 2001, in Liege, Belgium. He returned to France at a young age and started his footballing journey at ES Jouy St Prest, whose youth academy he joined in 2007. After spending three years at the club, he joined the now-defunct FC Chartres. It was here that he would begin to establish himself as one of the club’s best youth players.
After spending five years at the club, Rennes came calling, and Truffert wasted no time joining the team. Even at Rennes, the player distinguished himself among his peers. Truffert was part of both the under-17 and under-19 teams of Rennes that won the national championship.
This caught the attention of the club’s top hierarchy, which promoted him to Rennes B in 2018. He would spend the next two years there before he was promoted to the first team. His debut came on September 19, 2020, against AS Monaco. Coming on as a substitute, Truffert changed the entire complexion of the game by providing an assist and scoring an injury-time goal to help his team win the match 2-1.
Les stats (très) étonnantes d’Adrien #Truffert.
Encore une fois, à nuancer car peu de temps de jeu, mais je ne m’attendais pas à ça.
Dommage qu’il soit si limité en défense…
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