PL outfit now ‘almost guaranteed’ to pay £34m for ‘unique talent’ Ten Hag was told he couldn’t sign | OneFootball

West Ham United are poised to turn Jean-Clair Todibo’s loan move into a permanent transfer ‘soon’, despite the defender being ‘99 per cent a new Manchester United player’ at the beginning of the summer.

Indeed, Sir Jim Ratcliffe had hoped to welcome the Frenchman to Old Trafford, having been impressed with his stellar displays for OGC Nice – also owned by INEOS.

Fabrizio Romano provided regular updates on United’s pursuit of Todibo throughout the back end of last season, with him being identified as the No.1 centre-half target to bolster the backline in Raphael Varane’s absence.

However, Ratcliffe’s ties to both clubs, while initially seeming like a positive for United fans, proved detrimental to the board’s hopes of materialising their interest in Todibo.

This was because UEFA blocked the prospect of a player moving between clubs operating under the same ownership while also contending in the same European competition; prior to the FA Cup final, this wasn’t an issue, but the Reds’ triumph at Wembley secured their spot in the Europa League for the 2024/2025 term and could therefore see them come toe-to-toe with Nice.

Read more: Lost in transition – The growing Identity Crisis under Erik ten Hag

Reds acquired sufficient centre-half coverage after Todibo deal collapsed

As such, Ratcliffe and Co were made to begrudgingly look elsewhere – though they did seal two high-quality arrivals in the form of Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt.

The 24-year-old, deemed a ‘unique talent’ by StatmanDave when he burst onto the scene in 2020, has since signed for the Irons on a season-long loan. The obligation to buy clause is ‘almost guaranteed’ to be activated as it’s ‘very easy to reach’, according to Romano.

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