Official | Napoli centre-back Leo Østigård joins Rennes | OneFootball

Rennes have signed Napoli centre-back Leo Østigård (24), both clubs have announced. The 24-year-old Norway international has put pen to paper over a three-year deal with Les Rouge et Noir. Rennes initially set their sights on Lecce’s Croatian centre-back Marin Pongracic (26) but Florentina swooped in to hijack the deal. Julien Stéphan’s side were in the market for an experienced centre-back given their defending weaknesses last season. The Ligue 1 side also needed to bolster their options at the back following the departure of Jeanuël Belocian (19) to Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.

Leo Østigård is the third signing of Rennes during this transfer window after the arrivals of Danish attacking midfielder Albert Grønbæk (23) from Bodo/Glimt and of Finland international defensive midfielder Glen Kamara (28) from Leeds. Rennes’ outlay to sign the 2023 Serie A champion with Napoli is valued at €7m. Østigård featured 43 times with Napoli over two seasons after joining from Brighton and Hove Albion in 2022.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval