Renne Buys "The rock"

Stade Rennais, has exercised the option to buy John Mensah from the Italian side Chievo V?rone. The two clubs have agreed an undisclosed fee for the 23-year-old central defender, it was announced in the French press.

"The rock", as he is popularly known, should sign a three year old contract, Monday.

In January, the Ghanaian international moved to France on a six month loan, with an option to buy, while still on loan at Italian Serie B side Cremonese.

Since his arrival, it?s been uphill for the Brittany club. They transformed what had hitherto been a mundane season with a run that lifted them into third, which would earn them a place in the Champions League preliminaries. Meanwhile they also booked a spot in the Coupe de France semi-finals. Rennes won ten consecutive matches in the process.

Renne manager claimed then that "it was a collective effort and not the arrival of Mensah that changed the fortunes of the club".

This assertion was ?rubbished? when Mensah sustained a knock in the Coupe de France quarter-final victory over Montpellier and was out of the side for the next two matches.

The 10-match winning streak ended with Sunday's 2-1 loss at OGC Nice. Rennes was also knocked out of the French cup with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Marseilles.