Chelsea could sign a new centre-back this month and have Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo on their radar.
Jean-Clair Todibo will cost Chelsea a lot of money, with journalist Ben Jacobs reporting on Substack at the start of the year that a fee of around €60m (£51.5m) is what it is going to take to land him.
That may not be enough to deter the Blues, though. Speaking on talkSPORT, reporter Alex Crook hinted that a central defender may be the only arrival at Stamford Bridge this month and that fresh face could be Todibo.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ousmane Diomande is another centre-half who has been linked with a move to west London.
Chelsea may need to sign a new centre-back, as Thiago Silva is yet to put pen to paper on a contract extension. His existing deal expires in the summer.
Chelsea part of the Jean-Clair Todibo conversation
According to Crook, Chelsea are in the frame to sign Todibo, though Nice are reluctant to let him go.
On the Blues’ transfer plans this month, the talkSPORT journalist said: “If they sign anybody maybe it might be a centre-half. Jean-Clair Todibo, they are part of that conversation but Nice don’t want to let him go.”
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Well, we are now deep into January and Chelsea are yet to sign anyone. For once, under Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, it looks like the Blues will not make too much noise in the transfer market.
With only a couple of weeks left before the window closes, it would not be a shock now if Todibo or another centre-back was Chelsea’s only addition.
In an ideal world, Mauricio Pochettino would probably add a world-class striker to his squad. It is needed if the club are to have any chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
Nicolas Jackson, for example, is not consistent enough. This season, he has scored seven goals in 19 league appearances, which is not a terrible record, but a return like that will not get Chelsea to where they once were.
The problem for Pochettino, though, is how hard it is to actually find and then acquire a world-class striker.
