Jean-Clair Todibo
Harry Maguire’s replacement?
That is one of the most french-sounding first names I’ve ever heard. It’s actually the first time I’ve ever heard that as a first name. Has a nice ring to it: Jean-Clair.
But will this young Frenchman be headed to Old Trafford to join the ten Hag revolution? With Harry Maguire looking likely to leave the club, Erik ten Hag seems set on adding another defender to the ranks.
Jean-Clair Todibo: A brief history
The Frenchman is only 23-years-old so there is plenty of time and room for improvement. I already like this fact because it means many years ahead at the club, potentially.
But his career almost ended before it began.
He joined FC Les Lilas in Paris when he was 8-years-old but one year later, he was in a car crash which resulted in multiple leg fractures. Thankfully though, he managed to recover and by the time he was 16, he signed for Toulouse FC.
Now, he currently plays for Nice in the French league. In 2016, he was gaining a lot of recognition from some of the big clubs including a certain Barcelona. He then went on to sign for them in the January transfer window of 2019.
It unfortunately never really worked out for him at Barca though as he went on loan quite a few times while at the Catalans. This was mainly because there were quite a few defenders ahead of him such as Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Ronald Araujo. Those loans included Schalke, Benfica and Nice before he ended up being bought by the French club in 2021.
He is a right-footed centre-back who could became the long-term replacement for fellow Frenchman Raphael Varane. Learning from someone like Raphael for a young French defender is probably the dream. In fact, Ligue 1 dubbed Todibo the “next Varane”. Some pretty high expectations indeed.
Style of Play
What makes him so desirable to Erik ten Hag then?
Well, as we know, Erik loves technical players who are great on the ball. Todibo brings that to the table as it is one of his strongest attributes. According to Ligue 1’s official website, Todibo was a big admirer of one Andrea Pirlo.
That kinda tells you where this ability on the ball comes from.
When looking at those on the ball abilities, Todibo ranks in the 80th percentile when it comes to passes attempted (68.15), pass completion (88.6%), progressive passes (4.66) and successful take-ons (0.62), the last of which sees him rank in the 95th percentile.
He loves to play on the front foot a lot of the time and is key to his team in terms of building up from the back. This is something else that we know ten Hag wants his defenders to do, hence the axing of de Gea and the recruitment of Onana.
Those stats mean that Jean-Clair isn’t afraid of stepping out from the back with the ball. He is more than adept at carrying the ball up the pitch even if his numbers aren’t the most impressive (0.65 progressive carries per 90 [59th percentile]).
But don’t let the fact that he’s amazing on the ball fool you into thinking that he doesn’t possess the ‘traditional’ qualities of a centre-back.
Todibo is brilliant when it comes to tackling as he averages around 2.3 tackles ranking him in the 90th percentile for that particular attribute. Interceptions, blocks and clearances aren’t as strong as his tackling though as he is pretty average when it comes to those aspects of his defending.
With interceptions, he averages 1.33 a game (60th percentile), blocks 1.23 (52nd percentile) and clearances, he’s actually worse than most with 3.46 ranking him in the 40th percentile.
However, one-on-one, he is very strong especially when needing to defend in the wider areas.
*stats (per 90) via FBREF calculated over the past year in Europe’s top 5 leagues.
Weaknesses
Despite all the positivity of how well he could fit into ten Hag’s side with all his strengths, Todibo does have a couple of weaknesses.
Standing at 1.9m tall, one would think that he’s pretty dominant in the air. However, that is not the case. Jean-Clair is actually pretty below par when it comes to that aspect of the game. He has only won 1.26 aerial duels in the past year ranking him in the low 8th percentile. Yeesh 😬.
If he were to be Varane’s successor, then that is something he seriously needs to work on as if he partners Martinez, we cannot afford to have two CENTRE-BACKS who can’t out-jump most hobbits. We know how heavily Martinez was slagged for the fact that he’s shorter than most CBs and not the best in the air.
When a player is known for being tackle-happy, they need to be careful in terms of picking up cards. We’ve seen how this can affect us as one of our most tackle-happy players is Casemiro. We all know what happened to him last season.
While he only picked up three yellow cards last season, Todibo did pick up two red cards, just like Casemiro. That is a bit of a problem. Discipline is another aspect of his game he needs to work on.
In a way, he kind of reminds me of a taller, right-footed, French Lisandro Martinez. Mmm, that won’t be a bad partnership tbh 👍.
And there ain’t no better disciplinarian out there than Erik ten Hag right now IMO.
Here he is compared to our two current first team CBs:
Didn’t expect him to out-perform both our starting centre-backs like he has. But we must take this with a pinch of salt as he does play in France where things aren’t anywhere near as competitive in England. These are still great numbers though and another indication as to why he could work perfectly for ten Hag’s Man Utd.
Final Thoughts
I wouldn’t mind him at Old Trafford. With the attributes he has, he seems more than capable of playing ten Hag ball. The fact that he’s young and developmental are two other psotive factors to take into account as those are things Erik likes in his players.
He could give us a good few years and like I said, to learn under someone like Varane would be great. Todibo could also allow some rest to Raphael. We know that our current French CB has his injury issues and has complained about the amount of football there is nowadays and the toll it takes on their bodies. A younger version of him would be ideal.
So, Jean-Clair Todibo, it’s a yes from me 👍.
Todibo, yes or no for you?
#TRANSFERS #TODIBO #ERIKTENHAG #MUFC #GGMU #GLAZERSOUT
