The former Leeds defender is now playing Europa League football

Charlie Cresswell says he was fearful about leaving Leeds United for a new country upon his 2024 exit to Toulouse but said he “needed” to find the game time he craved.

The centre-back left Elland Road for France in a transfer thought to be £3.8million, with a clause that stipulated that Leeds would receive 15% of any profit of a future sale. The 24-year-old joined Rennes this summer, and is playing in European competition for the first time.

Cresswell joined the Europa League club - who play Juventus, Tarik Muharemovic’s former club, tonight - for a fee of around £24m, meaning Leeds pocketed around £3m; almost doubling their sale price.

“I think that was the biggest decision I made in football,” Cresswell reflected, when speaking to Get French Football News about his Leeds exit. “Because leaving home, leaving England, is such a scary, scary decision.

“And for me at the time, it was a big decision. I’ve been a Leeds fan since I was eight. I’d been at the club since I was 10. But looking back, I was 20 years old [sic] with no games and I needed to get out and go play."

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Cresswell played just seven senior games in Daniel Farke’s maiden season at Leeds, five of them coming in the Championship - of which just one was a start. The season prior, he had played 28 league games at loan club Millwall.

The centre-back, another of the Thorp Arch youth alumni, had the self-confidence to back himself to try pastures new overseas. And this summer, he felt ready to take the next step, having been the subject of transfer interest for some time.

“It’s a club that sells itself,” said Cresswell, brother of Leeds academy hopeful Alfie, on why he chose Rennes. “There’s that expectation to win games. That was important for the next step.

"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.”