Todibo’s Talent : Why He Is Perfect for ‘Massive Hammers’

Not often, even during the Max Kilman pursuit, have I seen so many positive and excited posts from Claret and Hugh readers. Maybe because we had all written-off the possibility of actually signing this particlar £40 million -rated defender in the face of his own preferred option to head out to Juventus.

Or maybe we all assumed the budget had been blown on some pretty tasty talent already and any new signings would be the ‘slow horses’ discussed in the public domain in the last couple of days.

But suddenly last night when the news broke across multiple sources that one of Tim Steidten’s ‘secret’ signings who he was pursuing without publishing was indeed Jean Clair Todibo from Nice – the ‘comments’ column was full of posts positively purring about the impending arrival of the 24 year old from French Guiana in South America.

All this excitement for a centre back?

This was the player, remember, who’d appeared at the Nou Camp for Barcelona no less, at the age of 19. The fact that this spell did not work out for him seemed to strengthen him in adversity. Hi choice to move to, and stay at Nice and rebuild his career to the point where his is now one of the most sought-after signatures in Europe at the age of just 24 has proved to be excellent judgement.  His comments reveal a deep thinker too.

Barcelona Wonderkid

Speaking last year, Todibo commented on staying at Nice: “I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t tell myself that perhaps I should play in a ‘top club’… But there are also guarantees when playing at Nice,” he told L’Equipe. “I experienced it differently from my previous situations in my career. My thinking was much more in-depth, thoughtful. I didn’t want to make a mistake in my choice. I remained very calm. Reflection is much more important than when I started. I’m waiting to be presented with the complete project.”

Incredibly, the youngster almost had a sporting career destroyed before it began: When only 9 years old he was hit by a car on the way to Judo training: “I had an injury on both my leg bones and down to the ankle, and there were several fractures. I’ve still got the scars, but it’s history now.”  Made a full recovery, joining Toulouse at 16. By 2019 he’d joined Barcelona with a reputed contract release clause set at £130 million. Some progress! From Goal.com comes a great analysis of his style:

Todibo is renowned for his confidence and ability on the ball, which derives from his time spent playing as a holding midfielder in his youth career. He has said he was inspired by Andrea Pirlo and Thiago Silva, an indication of the ball-playing defender he aspires to be. He takes a lot of touches for a defender, attempting 85 passes per game on average. That puts him within the top five percent of central defenders in Europe’s top five leagues. He also averages an 89% pass completion rate, which is among the top 20%. He also rates highly for progressive carries and successful take-ons.

So, enough hype, and  enough hope. I’ll wax lyrical about both the player and the Tim Steidten pursuit of this world-quality player when the ink is on the deal!