West Ham’s summer acquisitions were meant to set the league alight – but so far we’ve been somewhat of a damp squib. One of the signings fans were most excited about was that of Jean-Clair Todibo. He was seen to be a young, talented centre-back, who could offer us stability and skill in the back four as we set to improve on last season’s most-ever Premier League goals conceded for West Ham.
At the time of writing, we’re up to our elbows in October and we’re only just starting to get a sense of what Jean-Clair has to offer. New manager Julen Lopetegui has been hesitant to include him in the team, reportedly as Todibo was still adapting to the English game – leaving fans wondering when on earth we’d finally get to experience some Todibo-time in east London.
French international Todibo arrived from Nice in a loan deal which reportedly includes an obligation to buy him in 2025 for £34. West Ham had to fight off fierce competition to land Todibo. Serie A side Juventus were also keen to sign the 24-year-old defender.
It is a little surprising that he turned down Champions League football in favour of drawing games in the Premier League with the likes of Brentford and Fulham. Jean-Clair Todibo thus far seems unphased, saying at the time of his transfer that ‘It is a dream come true to play in the Premier League, the best league in the world’.
He’d know a thing or two about European Leagues, given his experience in sampling them. Todibo has previously played for Toulouse in France, Barcelona in Spain, Schalke in Germany, and Benfica in Portugal before adding Nice and West Ham to his CV.
Todibo hasn’t had the smoothest start to life in claret and blue – but then again, who has? He joined the club after pre-season and didn’t get a chance to fit into new manager Julen Lopetegui’s plans and preparations before the Premier League got underway.
As a result, Lopetegui didn’t utilize Todibo in the opening of our campaign, with him making a handful of appearances as a substitute in the Premier League while the more seasoned defender Mavropanos retained his starting position. It was only ever a matter of time, however, before Mavropanos made too many fatal errors to keep hold of his place in the side and Todibo finally got a chance to play a full 90 minutes against Brentford in late September.
You’d think Todibo would be frustrated with the lack of playing time, but in a refreshing piece of perspective, he acknowledged his gradual introduction as being beneficial to him, saying: ‘I’m happy because I think the Club gave me the time to get fit. I didn’t have a pre-season before I came here, so it took me a bit of time to come back well.
‘The game is more intense in the Premier League than in Ligue 1, more intense than all the leagues in the world, I think. Today I’m not 100 per cent, but I think I’m going to improve more with the time, and have a good impact in the team.’
These comments, made after his first start for the club against Brentford, really undersell his contribution to the Hammers. He had a good impact already in the Brentford game – and if he’s going to improve with time, the fans are in for quite a treat.
Although the Bees shocked the Hammers with a goal inside the first minute, on a return from a Todibo header, that was the end of the conceding in west London and the Hammers pulled away with a point at full time. Todibo shrugged off the early goal and delivered such an impactful full debut that he walked away with the Man of the Match award at the final whistle.
It was certainly enough for Todibo to earn a starting position against newly-promoted Ipswich at home in our next match. Ipswich entered the game with a negative goal difference and having won zero league games so far this season, so naturally they scored against us.
It could have been game over for West Ham and the Todibo-Kilman partnership that many fans had been hoping for, but instead the Irons dug deep and managed to turn the tide in our favour with a 4-1 win. Although we remain grateful to our four goal-scorers in the match, it was at the other end of the pitch where an individual performance was heralded.
Todibo had a really strong game which did not go unnoticed, particularly when it came to his passing game, when he completed 46/46 short passes. He absolutely earned himself his second Man of The Match award from West Ham’s sponsors – that’s two MOTM awards in two games for those of you keeping score.
To understand just how impressive his performances have been, his passing stats are a strong place to start. In his 187 minutes played for West Ham so far this season, he has an incredible 91.1% success rate for his passes.
His passing rate goes up when he’s in his own half – and it’s a real vote of confidence for a team with a tendency to leak goals from individual errors to have a player with a 98.8% passing success rate in the back line. Although West Ham have gotten off to a shaky start this season, Todibo has given us reason to believe that stability and structure are possible in our back four.
While he must still be wondering what he’s doing languishing in mid-table mediocrity, West Ham really have made an outstanding loan signing here. Although we did not directly speak to any Nice fans for this article about how they felt when he departed for his loan, we can assume with some level of journalistic integrity that they said things like ‘sacré bleu,’ ‘zut alors’, and perhaps even ‘oh no Jean-Clair’ – but said in a French accent.
He’s done a tremendous amount of work in just two matches to give fans some renewed cause for optimism – and finally, the Irons might just see some sparks fly in defence.
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