Eduardo Camavinga urged to stay at Rennes 'at least one more year' amid interest from Real Madrid

The 17-year-old is regarded as one the brightest prospects in European football

Eduardo Camavinga helped Rennes finish third in the shortened Ligue 1 season - the club's highest finish. Getty Images

Rennes' highly-rated teenage midfielder Eduardo Camavinga has been urged by his manager, Julien Stephan, to remain at the club "at least one more year" amid reported interest from Real Madrid.

Camavinga is regarded as one the brightest prospects in European football, and as such, is the subject of transfer speculation, linking him with a move to Spanish giants Real.

"It would do him good to stay at least one more year at Rennes because he needs to back up what he's done," Stephan said in an interview with AFP.

"He's in a place he knows well, he's at a club that has enormous trust in him and he's surrounded by people who know him perfectly."

Camavinga, who was born in Angola to Congolese parents before moving to France as a toddler, made his Ligue 1 debut at the end of last season aged just 16 years and five months.

Now 17, he has quickly established himself as a key player in a team that came third - the highest finish in the club's history - after a decision was taken last week to end the French season.

The France Under-21 international has repeatedly been linked with a move to Real Madrid in the Spanish media, but Stephan warned against joining one of Europe's elite clubs prematurely.

"Next year he will have to back up his excellent performances he's had this year. It will be the next step," he said.

"He has considerable potential but we know the difficulty of having a top-level career in sport at the highest level.

"He has to be allowed to grow, to flourish, and to above all have fun on the pitch because that's his driving force."