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Manchester United’s away form has been questioned and rightly so but their recent disappointing results have highlighted the vast gap in quality between their first-choice players and backup members of the squad.
Manager Erik ten Hag decided very quickly that he wanted a new-look defence when he took over and since the opening two failures, the heart of the defence has mainly been covered by World Cup-winners Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.
However, due to the Frenchman’s fitness concerns and the season-ending injury of the Argentine, the Dutch boss has had to change things, to the detriment of the team.
Club captain Harry Maguire had a shocker against Sevilla in the Europa League while Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw could not stop Tottenham from clawing back from two-goals down.
United need defensive reinforcements
The former Ajax coach will be worried with how to cope in the season run-in and he will have ideas about freshening things up at the back ahead of next season.
Loan stars Eric Bailly and Alex Telles are expected to depart and there is a chance that Maguire could join them with the club hoping to raise capital by offloading certain first-team stars.
The Red Devils have naturally been linked with quite a few centre-backs and the latest name to join that list is Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo.
The Frenchman, after a tumultuous few years where he was almost like a journeyman, has finally rediscovered himself at the Allianz Riviera.
The 23-year-old has made 42 appearances across all competitions and together with centre-back partner Dante, the duo have helped Nice concede the second-least amount of goals in the league this season.
His performances have caught the attention of France manager Didier Deschamps who recently called him up for the senior team for the first time in his career.
According to L’Équipe (via GFFN), “several Premier League clubs, including Liverpool, Manchester United, and Newcastle, interested in OGC Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo (23).
Todibo is a man in-demand after impressive showings for Nice
“In addition to the Premier League clubs, several Italian clubs, including Napoli and Juventus, have been in contact with him for several months.”
According to the report, Nice are looking at selling him for €30m with at least €10m in add-ons if possible. That will not be a problem for the aforementioned sides.
He is in demand because of his unique skill-set as a defender. The former Barcelona star is ranked in the top 92 percentile for progressive passes and he has a similar profile to fan-favourite Martinez.
He is as aggressive and proactive while possessing solid defensive acumen. Todibo’s talent has never been in doubt but at Nice, he has found the mentality needed to succeed and United could do with someone of his talents.
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