Manchester United target Jean-Clair Todibo opens up on future move, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe ready to make defender his first signing
Manchester United and Chelsea target Jean-Clair Todibo has spoken out amid intense interest from Premier League sides
Manchester United and Chelsea target Jean-Clair Todibo refused to rule out a summer switch to the Premier League after being probed about his future at Nice.
The 24-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to England after his stellar displays in Ligue 1 at the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-owned side. There was intense speculation about his future during the summer window, with the Red Devils and the Blues believed to be keen on the defender, but nothing materialised.
Nice are currently second in Ligue 1, having conceded just 11 goals in the league, and Todibo has been at the heart of the club’s spellbinding defensive record.
The Frenchman was asked about his ambitions for the future via the Mirror but remained coy on the issue, saying that his mind is very much focused on Nice.
"I am at Nice and we’re having a great season,” he said. “I don’t have my head elsewhere. If I did it would be difficult for me personally and for the group too.
"I feel really good at Nice. We’ll see what happens in the summer but we’re not there yet. I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I don’t want to give false hope. For now, I’m here at Nice."
Todibo then stated that any decision would not come during the campaign, with Nice second in the French league table and closing down on a Champions League spot.
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"Football moves quickly, you never know what’s going to happen. I’ll wait until the summer to make my decision. If my decision is to stay, I’ll announce it, if it is to leave, I’ll announce it too and I’ll thank everyone, but we’re not there yet."
Todibo, who made his debut for the French national team last year, also stressed that he would not want to leave his current club on bad terms.
"There are important games coming up. The goal is that if it is to be my final season at Nice, then I want to leave here having done something beautiful with the club,’ he went on.
"The supporters and the club deserve players who give everything on the pitch, and to achieve something substantial. Personally, if I am to leave, I want to leave something good behind."
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Jacque Talbot is a freelance football journalist who predominantly specialises in transfer stories and exclusives. He began his career in 2016 covering the world-renowned Sandbach United, of North West Counties fame, before earning a spot on the sports desks of national papers, where he bounced between several outlets such as Sportbible, the Express, Mirror, and Daily Star. An NCTJ graduate of the News Associates who swapped investigative journalism in the Costa del Sol for football reporting in Northern England, he first wrote for FourFourTwo in December 2023.