Jorge Sampaoli says Steve Mandanda ‘affected’ by transfer rumours after howler against Nice | OneFootball

There is a lot of talk around the No.1 position at Stade Rennais. When Jorge Sampaoli arrived at Olympique de Marseille, Steve Mandanda (39) left and the strong suggestion is that the Argentine wants to do the same thing at SRFC.

Rennes had looked on the verge of signing RC Lens’ Brice Samba, however, Les Sang et Or pulled the plug on the move at the last minute. It is unclear whether Les Rennais will look to bring in another goalkeeper, however, in a press conference, attended by Get French Football News, Sampaoli did confirm that he was looking to sign two or three players.

Mandanda maybe gave Rennes some more reasons to dip back into the market with his display in the 3-2 defeat to OGC Nice on Friday night. Unpressured, he passed a ball straight to Sofiane Diop, who duly punished his error. Sampaoli believes that the incessant rumours about his place in the squad didn’t help and potentially contributed to the match-defining error.

“Steve’s situation is difficult because of the numerous rumours. Those rumours affect him as a human being. What is clear is that today, he is our goalkeeper. It is true that this great number of rumours doesn’t help him. He is an experienced goalkeeper but it affects him,” said Sampaoli.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Nice