After a roller-coaster of a season, in which they have drawn away at Juventus’ Allianz Stadium (1-1) in a Europa League playoff, suffered a humiliation in a Coupe de France final against Toulouse (5-1) and reached safety on the final matchday, Nantes knew, deep down, they could no longer keep hold of their most potent attacking player – Ludovic Blas.
However, the faithful Canaris fans would have probably preferred not to see the former Guingamp man put pen to paper with their bitter Brittany rivals Stade Rennais. Still, the 25-year-old had the courtesy not to run down his contract with Nantes to go on a free, leaving La Beaujoire in a €15m switch after four seasons of truly memorable moments.
𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗢𝗳 Ludovic Blas 🪄
— FC Nantes (@FCNantes) July 5, 2023
𝟰 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 en jaune et vert. pic.twitter.com/sVDNLW3iFS
Blas was Antoine Kombouaré’s Nantes’ driving force – a pacy and deft dribbler with a keen eye for goal and gifted with some serious ball-striking abilities. Who ran half of the Juventus’ pitch to rifle past Wojciech Szczęsny in Turin? Blas did. Who scored a stunning acrobatic volley against Lyon in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France? Blas did. Who dribbled past two Angers players to assist Ignatius Ganago for Nantes’ most vital goal of the season on the final matchday? You know who.
Struggling for game time at Rennes
On the back of a successful 2021-22 season, in which Nantes over-performed in the league with a ninth-place finish and a Coupe de France title – Blas scored the final’s only goal against Nice, with a trademark torpedo from the penalty spot – Lille heavily courted the 2016 U19 European champion. Nantes stood firm. It could have proven their undoing, given Blas’ inconsistency and struggles to link up with teammates not as talented as he is.
He flourished with Randal Kolo Muani two years ago, but not so much the following season. Despite being given the armband, Blas considered Nantes a stepping stone for his career. Talks of a contract renewal with Les Canaris never really gathered pace. The time to take a leap of faith had come.
Bruno Genesio’s Rennes made their move and Blas looked very much at ease in preseason. The 25-year-old played as a right-sided winger under the guidance of Genesio, as a de facto replacement for the Manchester City-bound Jérémy Doku. However, Rennes’ struggling start of the season – culminating with Genesio’s resignation – has taken its toll on Blas’ confidence, despite some acceptable statistics (five goal contributions in 19 games).
It would be unfair to say Blas is having a worse season in Brittany than the likes of Enzo Le Fée, Arnaud Kalimuendo or Amine Gouiri. However, with Stéphan opting for a 3-4-3 set-up, Blas has fallen the pecking order with the Algeria international starting ahead of him. The upcoming 2024 AFCON may be Blas’ chance to kickstart his Rennes career back and remind Ligue 1 of his outrageous skills.
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
