Jean-Clair Todibo could be perfect Ange Postecoglou signing after £39m Tottenham development on Tuesday
Jean-Clair Todibo could be the perfect signing for Ange Postecoglou after a Tottenham development has emerged on the defender.
The Evening Standard reported on Tuesday (28 November) that Spurs have joined the race to sign the 23-year-old Nice centre-back as they are “desperate” to bring in defensive reinforcements in January.
It said Manchester United and Liverpool are also eying a move for the French international, who is believed to be available for about £39million.
It would mark quite a statement if the Lilywhites were able to fend off interest from their Premier League rivals to sign Todibo after a new centre-back has emerged as their “top priority”.
Postecoglou was forced to play fullbacks Ben Davies and Emerson Royal in central defence in the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa on Sunday (26 November) as Micky van de Ven is ruled out until next year with a hamstring injury and the hot-headed Cristian Romero was suspended.
That has only heightened the need for a new defensive option after Eric Dier, who has only made two appearances this season, was dropped against Villa and could be heading for a January exit out of North London himself.
It would send out a real message that Tottenham is the place to be for emerging talents trying to make the next step in their career if they can sign Todibo.
He has turned out 11 times for Nice this season after helping the Ligue 1 club get off to an unbeaten start to this campaign, where they sit just one point behind league leaders PSG.
The centre-back has earned an average SofaScore rating of 7.35 in the opening few months of this campaign, with his side claiming an impressive eight clean sheets.
His defensive stats really catch the eye after he’s made 1.4 interceptions, two tackles, 2.8 clearances, recovered the ball 7.8 times and won 62 per cent of his duels per outing.
The Frenchman is certainly no slouch in possession, either, after he has averaged 99.3 touches and recorded a 90 per cent pass success rate, which is extremely high for a player in his position.
Those figures are precisely why some of European football’s biggest clubs have been linked with him in recent times, with a January scramble for his signature likely to take place.
Postecoglou plays a relatively open system that requires his defenders to be comfortable on the ball as well as strong in the tackle, suggesting Todibo would be just the man to add some extra steel to his backline.
The £39million fee that is being quoted is also not a massive amount of money for a player who is believed to possess an awful lot of potential.
Spurs previously paid £42.5million for Romero and £43million for Van de Ven to prove that Daniel Levy is more than happy to back his managers to bring in defensive reinforcement provided they are the right fit for the club.
The centre-back is certainly a player who fits into that category due to his age and the chance to improve massively in the future, potentially opening up the opportunity for a substantial profit on any future sale should he prove to be a hit in the Premier League.
They will, however, face plenty of competition to sign the defender, so proving to him that the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the ideal place for him to improve and nail down a regular place in the France squad should be high on the priority list.
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