The 28-year-old moved to St Andrews from Chelsea and had another year to run on his existing contract with Bruce's Championship outfit.

Rennes, who have lost key players Swiss international striker Alexander Frei to Bayern Munich and Swedish international midfielder Kim Kallstrom to French champions Lyon, have already welcomed new arrivals Daniel Moreira from Toulouse and Bruno Cheyrou from Bordeaux.

Rennes, who previously saw former keeper Petr Cech move to Chelsea, are in danger of seeing the Czech international's replacement Andreas Isaksson also end up in the Premiership with Charlton putting together a two million euro offer for the Swede's services.

With a view to finding Isaksson's replacement Rennes have shown interest in veteran France 'keeper Fabien Barthez, who is a free agent after leaving Marseille.