Newcastle have taken advantage of UEFA rules as they have reportedly held talks with the representatives of Jean-Clair Todibo after the France defender was denied a move to Manchester United. Todibo currently plies his trade with Ligue 1 outfit Nice, who are owned by Red Devils minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Newcastle are on the hunt for a new centre-back, with Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar and Dan Burn all out of contract next summer.
And they are now set for a transfer battle with West Ham and Juventus to get a deal for Todibo over the line.
According to HITC, Newcastle’s new sporting director Paul Mitchell led the talks this week, with Magpies boss Eddie Howe keen to bolster his backline. Todibo is available this summer, with Nice already accepting a £33million bid from West Ham.
Todibo has already held talks with West Ham, and a transfer to the Hammers would see the 24-year-old moving to east London in an initial loan deal, with the team then obligated to sign him permanently further down the line.
Juventus, meanwhile, have agreed terms with Todibo but are yet to reach an arrangement with Nice, who won’t accept any transfer fee under the Hammers’ £33m offer.
United were banned from signing Todibo due to the fact Ratcliffe and his INEOS group are involved in the running of both the Red Devils and Nice.
The two clubs, however, have both been given permission to compete in next season’s Europa League. Earlier this month, UEFA confirmed that United and Nice won’t be directly or indirectly involved in trading players either permanently or on loan from this month until September 2025.
And the European governing body also noted that the two clubs won’t work together on any technical or commercial agreements or use any joint scouting initiatives or player databases.
Ratcliffe was interviewed by Bloomberg last month and unleashed his fury as he explained that his attempt to sign a Nice player had been blocked.
“We have a player at Nice – I’m not going to say his name – who is really interested in joining Manchester United and who has the ability to be a Manchester United player,” the 71-year-old told the publication.
“They (UEFA) told us we can’t sell him to United. They’ve said we can sell him to another Premiership club, but we can’t sell to Manchester United. But that’s not fair on the player and I don’t see what that achieves.”
