Barcelona keen for Jean-Clair Todibo to undergo a medical tomorrow
The defender, who has been frozen out at Toulouse after running down his contract to sign for Barcelona, could join Valverde's squad this transfer window.
The January transfer window closes today and Barcelona appear to have an ace hidden up their sleeve. Jean-Clair Todibo, who gave his word to join Barça on a free transfer a few weeks ago, is hoping to be registered to play in LaLiga before the transfer deadline so that he can spend the rest of the campaign with his new team mates at Camp Nou. Everything is in place for the defender to undergo a medical revision tomorrow. Barça's technical department have stepped up talks with Toulouse, where Todibo is still under contract, about letting the player leave now. Toulouse were not exactly thrilled that the central defender turned down their offer of a contract extension, preferring to sign for Barcelona on a free.
Todibo situation has changed
“The idea is that he comes to Barcelona now”, club sources told AS. “He's a player who we've worked very hard trying to secure for zero cost when major clubs like Juventus and Manchester United were eager to sign him. He has agreed to sign for Barça as from 1 July, but we're working very hard so that he can start work under Ernesto Valverde right away”.
Todibo, 19, signed for Barça at the start of the month after decided not to take Toulouse up on their offer of a new contract and turning down lucrative offers from other clubs. Initially, Barça had planned for the player to join after the season ends, in July and for zero cost. But the scenario has changed in recent days. The player has found himself at outcast at the club and has been training on his own. Under such circumstances, Barça have decided to accelerate Todibo's arrival. “We won't be paying a massive fee but we don't want to see the lad cast aside when he could be settling in with us now”.
If all goes to plan and Todibo completes his move this month, Barcelona will have five centre-backs in the first team squad. After a worrying period when both Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen were sidelined, the team was left with just Gerard Piqué and Clément Lenglet to form the central defensive pairing in every game. That was the reason the club brought in Jeison Murillo on loan, but he has since dropped down the pecking order.
| Classification | PTS | WM | TM | LM |
|---|
| Upcoming matches |
|---|
| Classification | PTS | WM | TM | LM |
|---|
| Upcoming matches |
|---|
