West Ham are reportedly set to beat Juventus to the signing of Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo on a season-long loan with a £34.2 million option to buy the 24-year-old in 2025.
Juve have struggled to reach an agreement with Nice for Todibo, BBC Sport has said, adding that West Ham are set to carry out a medical but the move is “not yet certain”.
Manchester United are said to have wanted to sign Todibo earlier this summer but found themselves unable to pursue him over rules relating to co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s involvement with Nice.
🦅 Jean-Clair Todibo is your Aiglon of the 2022-23 season 🏆
Your top 3 👇
🥇 @jctodibo
🥈 Gaëtan Laborde
🥉 @dante_bonfim #OGCNice pic.twitter.com/hkYfdBKcJG— OGC Nice 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@ogcnice_eng) May 30, 2023
Jean-Clair Todibo stats
Born in Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana in north-east South America, Todibo played for FC Les Lilas before joining Toulouse in 2016.
The right-footed central defender or midfielder came through the French club’s academy before signing a four-and-a-half year deal at Barcelona in 2019, taking the number six shirt.
Todibo made his Barca debut in March 2019 and was loaned to Schalke the following January, although the German side did not exercise an option to buy him for £21.4m, potentially rising to £25.7m.
A one-year loan to Benfica in October 2020 resulted in two appearances for Todibo and an unused £17.1m purchase option.
Nice paid £7.3m for him in February 2021, potentially rising to £13.7m, and Todibo became almost ever-present for the Ligue 1 club, with an eye-catching exception when he was sent off for a challenge as the last defender nine seconds into a game against Angers in September 2022.
France capped former under-20s international Todibo twice at senior level in 2023.
“𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑛!” ☀️
Jean-Clair Todibo is back home 🏡 pic.twitter.com/ItWbHlbVCe
— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) November 17, 2023
West Ham transfer news
West Ham have spent more than £100m since Julen Lopetegui succeeded David Moyes in July.
Todibo joins Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund, midfielder Luis Guilherme from Palmeiras, Dutch forward Crysencio Summerville from Leeds, defender Max Kilman from Wolves and Argentina midfielder Guido Rodriguez on a free transfer as their new arrivals.
Moyes secured a ninth-placed finish in his final season, winning one of his last eight matches in all competitions.
Celta Vigo visit the London Stadium on Saturday (3pm BST) before West Ham’s Premier League campaign starts at home to Aston Villa on August 17 (5.30pm).
