Promising Rennes midfielder James Lea Siliki has admitted that it is his dream to one day play for Manchester United.

The 21-year-old has gradually worked his way into the first-team plans of the Breton side and has started every game under new head coach Sabri Lamouchi.

He has long been considered one of the top prospects from an academy that also recently produced Ousmane Dembele and Tiemoue Bakayoko.

While those players have moved on to Barcelona and Chelsea respectively, Lea Siliki has another big European giant in mind.
“Since I was small in my bedroom, I’ve dreamed of playing big matches and being a professional footballer,” he told Ouest France . “It’s been an obsession since I was old enough to understand.


“I dream of Manchester United, their stadium, their colours. I grew up with the Sir Alex Ferguson years, with Boxing Day games on Canal+, the 95th-minute wins. I grew up with Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole together in attack, Mikael Silvestre, Louis Saha, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs, who remains an icon.”
Although he loves United, it is a City player who has caught his eye in recent times.

“I like watching videos of experienced players, analyse what they do well, tactically, physically, their movements, their physical investment.,” he said. “Kevin De Bruyne, for example, he’s complete.”
Lea Siliki, a former France Under-19 international, will expect to start for Rennes against bottom-of-the-table Metz on Saturday as they aim for a seventh win in eight games