Following the confirmation of his arrival at West Ham United, we take a photographic journey through Jean-Clair Todibo’s impressive career in football so far.
Born in Cayenne, French Guiana, the now 24-year-old defender moved to the Parisian suburb of Bagnolet aged three, and after featuring for FC Les Lilas in his youth, and trialling at the likes of Manchester United and Nottingham Forest, eventually joined Toulouse FC’s academy in 2016.
Initially a defensive midfielder, Todibo quickly progressed through the ranks in the south of France and was handed his first-team debut in August 2018 aged 18, in a 2-1 home win over Bordeaux in Ligue 1.
A first goal for Le Téfécé followed a month later, in a 1-1 draw at Rennes, while his strong showings at club level quickly earned him international recognition, and he duly made his France youth bow against Switzerland that November.
After such an impressive start to his senior career during the first half of 2018/19, Todibo was the subject of considerable interest across Europe in January 2019 and, having agreed a transfer to global giants Barcelona for the upcoming summer, the move was subsequently brought forward and actioned before the end of the winter window.
Given the number six shirt at the Camp Nou, Todibo made his first official appearance for the 27-time Spanish champions in a goalless draw at Huesca towards the conclusion of the same campaign, and then featured for France at the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup in Poland.
At the start of 2019/20 Todibo made three outings for Barça before appearing on ten occasions on loan at Schalke 04 in Germany, while he made similar temporary moves to Portuguese heavyweights Benfica in October 2020, and Nice in February 2021, impressing at the latter with one goal in 15 games.
A permanent transfer to Nice was confirmed ahead of 2021/22 and, competing alongside the likes of current Premier League players Mario Lemina and Justin Kluivert, Todibo hit the ground running back in France, missing just two games that term.
An established defensive force by the latter stages of the 2022/23 season, he received his first call-up to France’s senior national team set-up in March 2023, and later won his first cap in a friendly defeat to Germany that September.
Despite missing out on a spot in Didier Deschamps’ UEFA Euro 2024 squad, Todibo finished 2023/24 with 33 appearances to his name in all competitions, and having surpassed the 100-appearance milestone for Nice.
Check out the images from our newest recruit’s impressive life on the pitch in the gallery above.
