MNUFC sign French forward Adrien Hunou

Late Friday morning Minnesota United announced the signing of their third DP, 27 year old French center forward Adrien Hunou, from Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais.

Signed to a three-year deal with a one year club option and a reported $3.6 million transfer fee, the Loons hope the center forward will add the same immediate quality as fellow countrymen Bakaye Dibassy and Romain Métanire. Hunou will join the team pending a physical and after the completion of his international paperwork and a league mandated quarantine.

MNUFC have been watching Hunou for quite some time.

“This is another signing we have pursued for a long time,” Head Coach Adrian Heath said. “Adrien is a target we have not deviated from since last year. It’s a bit like the Reynoso deal, where we’ve been at it every single day, and he’s been desperate to come to Minnesota.”

Hunou does seem excited for the move.

Hunou has spent most of his professional career with French side Stade Rennais FC, joining Rennais II in 2012 and appearing primarily with their Ligue 1 first team since 2017. Over seven seasons with the club he scored 38 times, a good but by no means exceptional total. His playing time and goals are a bit down of late, a reality that Heath attributed to his stating a desire for a move out of France. Hunou also spent two seasons on loan with Cleremont Foot 63 of the French second division, scoring 11 times in 47 appearances. Highly touted as an up-and-coming player he made appearances with the U18, U19, and U20 French national teams. Of Polish descent through his grandmother Hunou remains eligible to play internationally for Poland.

Possessing a goal scorers sense for picking up the cheap rebound and the lucky bounce Hunou seems to have a feel for empty space suggesting a great partnership with Emanuel Reynoso. He also has shown a creative first touch that is often missing in MSL.

“He’s got great movement, he’s sneaky fast. He always gets there. He’s got really good movement in the box, he’s a great finisher. Natural goal scorer. He’s going to get along with Rey,” Heath said.

Although primarily a center forward, it seems Hunou will also be tried out alongside Reynoso on both the right and left sides. And there are even hints of Heath playing two up front. With the signing of Argentinian midfielder Franco Fragapane still seeming imminent, the greatest challenge now might be in figuring out how best to use all these attacking pieces.