As reported by L’Équipe and Nick Hartland in Get French Football News, West Ham United have submitted a formal £30 million (€35 million) bid for centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo but OGC Nice are holding out for more.
Todibo had seemingly been on his way to Manchester United earlier in the window, but this transfer was blocked by UEFA, as reported by Dom Smith in the Evening Standard, because both clubs are, at least partially, owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company INEOS.
With this move now unlikely to happen, West Ham have attempted to swoop in, but they’ll need to come back with an improved offer to land their defensive target.
Who is Jean-Clair Todibo?
Jean-Clair Todibo is a 24-year old centre-back who, after bursting onto the scene at Toulouse, joined Barcelona in 2019, but made little impact in Catalonia, making just five appearances for Barça.
He was sent out on loan to Schalke, Benfica and Nice, before joining les Aiglons permanently for around £11.5 million three years ago.
In total, he’s made 136 appearances for Nice, starting the 2022 Coupe de France Final as they were beaten by Nantes, appearing 30 times last season as his team finished fifth in Ligue 1.
At international level, Todibo has earned two senior caps for France, starting a friendly defeat to Germany and a qualifying win over Gibraltar, although the most-recent of those, a record-breaking 14-0 win coming at his current home stadium of Allianz Riviera, was back in November, not in the current Euros squad.
A summer of change at West Ham United
With David Moyes’ five-year reign having come to an end in East London, and Julen Lopetegui the new man in charge, it’s likely to be a busy summer at West Ham United.
The Irons have already brought in Luis Guilherme for £25.5 million, an 18 year old winger from Palmeiras, while, less excitingly, Wes Foderingham has joined on a free from Sheffield United to bolster their goalkeeping department.
With Lucas Paquetá facing a potential ban and Mohammed Kudus in demand, the Hammers may, potentially, be very active in the market.
Either-way, this is a squad built entirely in Moyes’ image, so Lopetegui will be looking to make wholesale changes to play his way which, to put it mildly, is rather different to what supporters have seen in recent times at the London Stadium.
