Manchester United have been handed a boost in signing Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo with West Ham United re-opening talks over a possible deal for Harry Maguire.
The Red Devils reached a verbal agreement to sell their former captain to the Hammers earlier this month, but the £30 million transfer did not materialise in the end.
The centre-back was prepared to accept a £70,000 pay-cut on his current £190,000-a-week wages, but he wanted a huge pay-off from United to join the Hammers.
The Red Devils offered him around £6 million, but that was not sufficient to convince him.
As a result, the Hammers decided to sign Konstantinos Mavropanos from Stuttgart, but The Sun claim that they have re-opened talks over a late deal for Maguire.
David Moyes’ side are prepared to pay a little more to compensate for the pay-off, and it remains to be seen whether Maguire will be persuaded to make the move.
United handed late boost in signing Todibo
The Red Devils were initially interested in signing Benjamin Pavard from Bayern Munich. They planned to enter formal negotiations, but ended their pursuit due to Maguire’s decision.
Inter Milan have now reached a verbal agreement with the German champions to sign the World Cup winner, but a transfer depends on whether Bayern can find a replacement.
In our view, United are unlikely to change Pavard’s mind and should rather focus on Todibo.
The former Barcelona man has already spoken with Ten Hag this summer. The Frenchman is said to be ‘excited’ by the prospect of joining a ‘prestigious’ club like United.
Nice reportedly value Todibo in the region of €40m (£34.3m), and the Red Devils could easily afford him if Maguire is convinced to head for the exit door in the coming days.
Todibo is currently ‘unsettled‘ amid the fluctuating interest from United. We believe he would be determined to join the club if an official bid is made before the deadline.
The 23-year-old would be an upgrade on Maguire with his strong distribution skills. He completed 57 passes per league game last season with an accuracy of 89 per cent.
He won 2.2 tackles and 4.4 duels per game alongside 3.1 clearances. Todibo’s demerit would be his discipline, having been sent off thrice in all competitions last term.
Todibo would be a quality deputy for the centre-back position. In the long run, the Frenchman could be a permanent starter with Raphael Varane being injury-prone.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
