It is never a good sign when a player you have just signed for a cool £36 million – West Ham United activated the permanent clause in Jean-Clair Todibo’s contract a month ago – is now being labelled a ‘bullet dodged’ for other Premier League clubs.
Manchester United had hoped to take the former Barcelona youngster to Old Trafford last summer. That was until UEFA blocked a proposed deal due to Ineos – owners of Ligue 1 outfit OGC Nice – taking a minority control at United.
Tottenham were keen as well, while Newcastle held talks with Todibo’s camp in July 2024.
So, when West Ham United eventually won the battle for a highly-coveted defender also on Juventus’ radar, expectations were high at the London Stadium heading into a campaign which promised much but eventually delivered very little.
West Ham’s 2-0 win at Newcastle summed up Todibo’s time in English football, really. He was the only player to be handed a lower than 9/10 rating by Hammers News following that November victory on Tyneside.
Todibo would subbed off with 57 minutes on the clock, too. In his 20 Premier League starts, the Frenchman failed to make it past the 71st minute on no fewer than eight occasions.
No wonder West Ham icon Terry Gale has concerns over Todibo’s fitness.
Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Alex Dodd – CameraSport via Getty Images
TalkSPORT reporter Alex Crook now claims that Paul Mitchell – the experienced sporting director who departed Newcastle this week after an ill-fated stint at St James’ Park – had recommended Todibo to the Magpies as an alternative to last summer’s top target Marc Guehi.
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One year on, while Guehi’s FA Cup heroics at Crystal Palace only add to the argument that Harry Maguire’s status as Britain’s most expensive-ever defender should come under threat, it’s telling that Todibo’s name has conspicuous by its absence from those Newcastle-based gossip columns in recent times.
“When the Marc Guehi deal fell through, Jean-Clair Todibo was Paul Mitchell’s idea of a Plan B,” Crook explains, following reports that the West Ham defender regrets moving to London in the first place.
“The coaching staff at Newcastle ruled that out because they had done those background checks, and they looked into his character.
“Actually, if you hear some of the stories and how he has conducted himself at West Ham, I would suggest they probably dodged a bullet going against Paul Mitchell.”
Graham Potter has been quick to come to his embattled centre-back’s defence of late. Todibo brings ‘high-level quality’ to West Ham, the manager argues, while his difficult debut year in English football could be explained by a lack of pre-season planning.
Todibo only joined the Hammers in mid-August, after all.
Troy Deeney says Todibo was a ‘disgrace’ in Ipswich Town clash
There was little excusing his role in Nathan Broadhead’s rasping strike for Ipswich Town on the final day of the Premier League season, however.
As Jarrod Bowen earned glowing praise from Kieran McKenna following a devastating display at the other end, Broadhead strolled through Todibo as if he was nothing more than a flickering hologram before lashing past Lukasz Fabianski.
Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images
“He was a disgrace in that last game,” spits former Watford captain Troy Deeney. “He was a disgrace. He was literally letting people walk past him!”
Deeney, an old-school, mud-and-nestles centre-forward, would have relished the idea of squaring up to the flimsy Frenchman in his days leading the line at Vicarage Road.
Potter will be hoping that, with a full summer of training under his belt, Todibo can still develop into the defender West Ham thought they were getting when agreeing to that £36 million loan-to-buy arrangement.
“I think it was a bit tough for him at the start,” Potter argues. “Because he arrived late to pre-season and then had injury problems. There was quite a lot of change last summer, but overall it’s not been that easy for those players who have come in.
“But, I’ve really enjoyed working with ‘JC’. He’ll get better as he gets fitter and fitter, because he’s got some really high-level quality.”