After agreeing to part ways with Wesley Fofana for a very good sum of money, Saint-Etienne must now find a new central defender and have the means to aim ambitiously. As a result, Schalke 04 central defender Jean-Clair Todibo, on loan from FC Barcelona, could find himself in the ropes of Greens.
In a sphere where the various actors of the mercato planet fuel rumors and speculations, 90min attempts to link the rational to the relevant, by offering attractive alternatives to clubs in search of reinforcements. Today, we are devoting our column to an opportunity for AS Saint-Etienne: Jean-Clair Todibo.
It is now validated, Saint-Etienne has agreed to sell the best player of his team in the person of Wesley Fofana.
? The#ASSE has reached an agreement with @LCFC, current Premier League leader, for the transfer of Wesley #Fofana. The decision to sell the player for a record amount was taken collegially by the Management Board and the shareholders.
? Read the full press release?
– AS Saint-Étienne (@ASSEofficiel) September 29, 2020
The 19-year-old central defender will join Leicester for 35 million euros including 5 bonus, the fifth biggest transfer of a player of this age or less, in Ligue 1, behind Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and in front of William Saliba, transfer which will be important later.
The Greens must now fill the big hole left by their young captain and for them, we therefore thought of the former Toulousain, Jean-Clair Todibo.
As stated previously, the leaders of Saint-Etienne largely bailed out the coffers with the sales of Wesley Fofana to Leicester (35 million euros) and William Saliba to Arsenal (30 million euros).
Only one question therefore remains: will the Saint-Etienne leaders want to reinvest this money in an ambitious way by taking out the checkbook to make the Todibo bet, or will they be content to place a few millions on three different players by putting this money aside?
Followed by Rennes, Jean-Clair Todibo has been the subject of an 18 M € offer from Fulham in recent hours.
(@Tanziloic) pic.twitter.com/dlWBIJWxYZ
– Football News (@ActuFoot_) September 23, 2020
Besides, how much does it cost to afford Jean-Claude Todibo? Yes Transfermarkt evaluates the player at 14 million euros, FC Barcelona requested, the latest news 25 million. An amount obviously prohibitive for Saint-Etienne despite its latest sales, but negotiable in view of the player’s liabilities, who has not yet proven his consistency at the high level.
The Greens could also carry out the good operation of this end of transfer window by bringing back the defender in the French championship in the form of loan. Schalke spent only 1.5 million euros over one year to secure the services of the international Espoirs and his emoluments are estimated at 65,000 euros gross per month.
Now comes the question of the player’s personal ambitions on the table, these being clear: to win at FC Barcelona. After two games played with Barça in 2019, Todibo has only taken part in ten meetings in one year with Schalke.
In addition, if the European Cup was able to present itself as a seductive asset on the side of Rennes where the international Espoirs was announced before the file blocked, it does not seem to be a key factor.
Indeed, the 20-year-old defender has agreed to play for Schalke, consistently in the second half of the table for two seasons and therefore not participating in any European competition.
Also, by returning to Ligue 1, the former Téfécé would welcome an opportunity to relaunch in the championship which revealed it and which he knows.
If there is a strong point on which the Greens to attract Jean-Clair Todibo, it is their coach. The semi-finalist of the Champions League 2010 with Lyon has done a remarkable job with young people since his arrival at the club, as evidenced by the explosions of Fofana or Saliba as well as the appearance of new faces like Yvann Maçon recently.
The joy of a ??????? ??? in @ Ligue1UberEats !
?? Adil #Aouchiche
?? Yvann #Builder pic.twitter.com/YMjkEyXZbk– AS Saint-Étienne (@ASSEofficiel) September 20, 2020
To win at FC Barcelona, Todibo must first mark the occasion on loan by a meteoric progression and could well see in Claude Puel, the providential man, capable of making him pass a course, giving a reason to the Catalan leaders of repatriate him after having had the playing time he needed.
On the technical side, the player does everything to satisfy the wishes of his coach. A powerful defender, strong in the air game, technical and endowed with a vision of the game that he owes to his former post of sentry and what Barça has seized upon.
Only one unknown remains to be determined, this one at the origin of the word “bet” to qualify a possible transfer: the recurring injuries of the player.
In total, since the 2018-2019 season, Todibo has posted cumulative absences over a period of 217 days for 27 missed matches. Small recurrent injuries that can discourage … or allow, as mentioned above, to negotiate around a loan or a final transfer of the player to lower the price.
One thing is certain, if the Greens aim to confirm their good start to secure a European Cup, it will be necessary to fill the colossal void left by the departure of Wesley Fofana.