It is a decision that he never thought he would make. His father Richard made a career as a journeyman footballer in England; his brother Alfie was coming through Leeds’ academy; Charlie was already on the fringes of the Yorkshire club’s first team when the opportunity to join Toulouse arose in 2024. I’d been at the club since I was 10 but, looking back, I was 20 years old with no games, and I needed to get out and go play,” says Cresswell, now at Rennes and preparing to face Juventus in the Europa League.
He insists that proving a point to his formative club is not his intention, even if it is a natural by-product of his rise. A loan spell at Millwall didn’t provide an opening for Cresswell, who would make just 14 appearances for Leeds’ senior side. Opportunities arose in England.
Attracting attention from Toulouse – the Brighton of French football, commended for their data-led approach – is always a good sign. The defender was a mainstay. From a possible 68 games in Ligue 1, he started 57 times for Carles Martínez Novell across two seasons before getting his move to Rennes last summer.
Brighton had been linked with the former England youth international. The decision to stay in France was made after a discussion with his partner. Whereas Toulouse have lived in the comfort of midtable in recent seasons, expectations are higher at Rennes, who aim for the Champions League places.
At this moment in my career, being 24, it’s about keeping building to get where you want to get to. I was picking the right place where I can grow again and keep improving. And the next step for me was to play in Europe and especially to have that expectation to win because, with where I want to go, I’m going to need to build that know-how of how to win games under pressure.” From his time at Leeds, Cresswell knows Raphinha, Joe Rodon and Glen Kamara, all of whom played at Roazhon Park, as well as Djed Spence, a former England Under-21 teammate, who spent time on loan at Rennes from Tottenham.
He didn’t need any of them to put in a good word. Rennes are unbeaten in the Europa League this season (one win, one draw). It would be stupid to put limits on ourselves.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
