French media: Rennes plans to sell Guqiao Hengwu this summer, players performance is not up to expectations

According to French media footmercato on May 17, Guqiao Hengwu was an important signing for Renne in the winter transfer window, but his performance was far from expectations. After being abandoned by head coach Beyer, the 30-year-old Japanese striker appears bleak in Rennes' future.

Ren's performance this season has been unsatisfactory, and hesitated most of the time in the middle and lower reaches of the league, and even approached the relegation zone for a while. This is mainly due to the failure of the summer transfer window and the multiple turnovers in the season. The club fired former head coach Julian Stephen and his successor Jorge Sanbaoli as a result.

In order to turn the situation around, Rennes invested 75 million euros in the winter transfer window and introduced several players, including Guqiao Hengwu (Celtic).

But Henwu Guqiao's performance at Renne failed to meet expectations. He performed well with the Celtics in three and a half years, winning the Serie A championship four times, and scoring 85 goals in 165 games and contributing 19 assists. He has been associated with giant teams such as Manchester City and is regarded as a substitute for Haaland.

However, his performance at the Celtics declined in the first half of the season (scoring 12 goals and contributing 4 assists in 32 games), but it is still crucial to the team. Until Rennes signed him for 12 million euros in the winter window.

On paper, the deal was very attractive to Rennes, as Guqiao Henwoo is an experienced player who is familiar with European events. However, this is not the case. Since making his debut against Strasbourg on February 2, Hengo Kuhashi has made only five appearances, with a total of 13 games. He also missed the match against Nantes, Lyon and Toulouse with a shoulder injury.

Rennes coach Beyer explained: "His shoulder was dislocated against Lille and was injured again in training, which is one of the reasons why he did not start."

In addition to his poor physical condition, Guqiao Hengwu's technical characteristics are not suitable for Beyer's tactical system. In fact, he was the player that former coach Sang Pauli asked to introduce.

"The characteristics of Guqiao are different from other forwards. He needs a fulcrum because he is very flexible. He is a good player and we are working hard to integrate him into the team and increase confidence." Beyer said in March.

"Even if he doesn't get enough playing time, he's still part of the team and will play a role in the game... Guqiao's playing time does not mean he's not meeting my expectations or he won't be on the roster. He's a capable player and I'm sure he'll help us," Beer said before the game against Le Havre in mid-April.

However, since then, the situation has not improved, but has worsened. Guqiao Hengwu no longer meets Rennes' plan. Although he was very professional and worked hard on the team, Beyer did not intend to continue using him. The club hopes to sell it this summer, and his contract will last until June 2027.

Ren must deal with this transfer issue seriously, because Guqiao Hengwu's transfer fee is as high as 12 million euros, which is equivalent to an appearance fee of up to 100,000 euros per minute.