Transfer rumours affect Dembele - Courbis

Rennes coach Rolland Courbis believes the ongoing transfer speculation has affected Ousmane Dembele's displays in recent weeks.

The 18-year-old has been in superb form this campaign, scoring 12 goals in 22 Ligue 1 outings, and has reportedly attracted the interest of clubs such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Dembele has been struggling to find his best form of late, though, as Rennes were beaten 3-0 by both Nice and Guingamp.

"Dembele is affected by all the rumours because he is still only 18, an age where things like this can affect you," Courbis said at a news conference.

"There are a lot of things happening for him and it is difficult to cope with it all. He has been getting a lot of praise, was voted best player of March, there are transfer rumours and he got a call-up for France Under-21s.

"There are a lot of things happening at the same time and maybe it is all a bit too much.

"Unfortunately, this has played a role in our last two results."

Rennes have dropped to seventh place in the Ligue 1 table following their recent defeats. They will look to return to winning ways when they host Monaco on Sunday.