According to Teamtalk, Tottenham Hotspur are preparing a formal approach to beat Manchester United to the signing of Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo in January.
The Frenchman is one of the best central defenders in Ligue 1 and he has been instrumental in Nice’s brilliant league campaign. They are currently 2nd in the table, 5 points behind Paris Saint-Germain.
Spurs are known to be interested in signing Todibo in January. They have not made an official move so far but Teamtalk claim that they are prepared to do so soon to find out the difficulty in negotiations.
Ratcliffe recently secured a 25% stake at Man United and this could hamper their chances of signing him, considering the Red Devils are also interested in landing the defender valued at £39 million.
Tricky deal
Spurs are likely to invest on a marquee central defender in January. The London giants have been missing Micky van de Ven’s presence at the back over the past eight weeks with a hamstring injury and they have suffered another setback with Cristian Romero ruled out for more than a month with a hamstring problem of his own.
Van de Ven is anticipated to return by the time Spurs face United at Old Trafford next month, but manager Ange Postecoglou will want to add more quality in the squad to keep up in the title race. Todibo would be a fine signing for Spurs with his ball-playing ability, recovery pace as well as the ability to make crunch tackles.
Tottenham are weighing up an early approach for him next month, but Ratcliffe’s investment into United could scupper their chances of landing him as he is also the owner of the French club. Ratcliffe’s deal with United could be approved by the Premier League by late January and we won’t be surprised if they end up signing Todibo. An early move in January would allow Spurs to find out Nice’s stance. They need to focus on other centre-backs targets if they can’t agree on a fee.
