Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo is reportedly set to terminate his loan spell at Benfica and join Ligue 1 outfit OGC Nice for the rest of the season.
According to a report from ESPN, as relayed by Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona youngster Jean-Clair Todibo is set to join French club OGC Nice on loan for the rest of the campaign, cutting short his current temporary stint with SL Benfica.
Having come through the youth ranks at French outfit Toulouse, Todibo made the switch to Barcelona in the winter transfer window of 2019. However, the young centre-back failed to establish a foothold in the first-team at Camp Nou in his first year, which led to a loan spell at FC Schalke in January last year.
Todibo looked decent in his handful of appearances for the Bundesliga strugglers before returning to Barcelona at the end of the campaign. With no place for him in the side, the 21-year-old was farmed out on loan again, this time to Portuguese outfit SL Benfica.
However, game-time has been hard to come by for the Frenchman at his latest temporary club, as he has featured just twice all season, with Barcelona now looking for a better loan destination for him. In spite of the lack of playing time, interest in Todibo hasn’t diminished as a host of clubs are lining up a loan move for Todibo in the current transfer window.
As per the report, there has been interest from Ligue 1 club Saint-Etienne while the likes of AC Milan, Napoli, Parma, Lazio and Benevento in the Serie A are said to be looking at him. But, it seems like the 21-year-old could be headed to Ligue 1 outfit Nice, with the two clubs reportedly closing in on an agreement.
Barcelona and Nice worked together on a loan deal for right-back Moussa Wague last year, with the Catalans’ right-back spending the second half of the 2019/20 campaign at the Allianz Riviera. Now, Todibo too could be set to follow in Wague’s footsteps, by completing a loan switch to Nice.
The reported deal will have an option to make the transfer permanent for a fee in the range of €8-€10 million. However, with the move not yet complete, other clubs are still waiting in the wings to swoop in if the transfer falls through. As things stand though, Todibo’s time in Portugal is nearing an end as he closes in on a return to his homeland.
