Charlie Cresswell backs his decision to leave England and win at Rennes

Leaving England frightened him, but Charlie Cresswell does not regret taking the chance in France. Now at Rennes, the English defender says he made the move to play, build his career and win. He is preparing to face Juventus in the Europa League, a fixture he sees as an important step in his journey.

At Leeds, where he had joined at 10 and supported the club since childhood, Cresswell struggled to find a place. A loan spell at Millwall did not open up a fresh opportunity, and he made just 14 appearances for Leeds’ first team. “I was 20, I wasn’t playing and I needed to get out and play,” he says. He describes the decision he never imagined making as “the biggest” of his football career. He also says he had the option of returning to England, but is in no rush to do so: “I’m here to work and I’m here to win.”

His time in Ligue 1 brought regular playing opportunities. Of 68 possible matches, he started 57 under Carles Martínez Novell across two seasons before joining Rennes last summer. Cresswell believes he has improved considerably since moving to France, while adding that there is still plenty more for him to develop. At Rennes, he says, “there’s that expectation to win games” — a demand he considers valuable for what comes next.

The defender particularly wants to learn how to handle the pressure of European fixtures. “The next step for me was to play in Europe and learn how to win under pressure,” he explains. Rennes are unbeaten in the Europa League this season, with one win and one draw, and Cresswell is ambitious ahead of Thursday’s trip to Juventus: “We can say that we can win it.”

That progress also feeds a personal dream: one day playing for England. Cresswell says it has been his “biggest dream” since childhood, and that doing well abroad and in Europe can bring a player to the national team’s attention. For now, he would rather focus on the next match than a distant destination: “The fun bit is the journey, training every day and the matches.”