Not that anyone really needed a reminder about the pulling power and the financial might of the Premier League, West Ham United provided one anyway.
Not content with luring one of the brightest young talents in Brazil to the London Stadium in Luis Guilherme and taking Germany’s number nine Niclas Fullkrug away from Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverksen, The Hammers continued a pretty incredible summer of business by snatching Jean-Clair Todibo from under the noses of Juventus.
Now, there has been no shortage of hand-wringing in Italy about the growing financial gap between Serie A and the Premier League.
The departures of Riccardo Calafiori to Arsenal, Guglielmo Vicario to Tottenham, and Sandro Tonali to Newcastle United left many a pundit frustrated and facing something of an existential crisis as to the strength of their beloved league.
The sight of Juventus losing out to the team which finished ninth in England’s top flight last term, then, felt like another slap in Serie A’s face.
West Ham beat Juventus to Jean-Clair Todibo
With Juve stuck in the mud – unable to move financially and seeing a lowball bid rejected – West Ham seized the chance to add the talented Todibo to an ever-improving squad on Saturday morning.
“You can’t compete with Premier League clubs,” is the assessment of former Italy midfielder Antonio di Gennaro, speaking to Tuttomercatoweb. “Even lower-ranking teams can invest a lot.
“With them, we always come in second.”
West Ham looked set to miss out on Todibo only a few days ago.
Their eventual success, then, is a victory for perseverance with sporting director Tim Steidten again travelling out to hold face-to-face talks, like he did when convincing Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus to leave Ajax in the summer of 2023.
The deal is an initial loan one, albeit with a £33 million obligation-to-buy clause in Todibo’s contract, HITC understands.
“I am really excited to be signing for West Ham United,” Todibo tells the club’s official website. “It is a dream come true to play in the Premier League, the best league in the world.
“This is an amazing opportunity for me, at a club with huge ambition, who want to really make progress under the new head coach.
“It feels like the right time to be coming to West Ham, in the heart of London, with an amazing, passionate fan-base. I’m so excited to pull on the West Ham shirt, and play at the London Stadium in the Premier League.”
HITC understands that, with Todibo joining the left-sided Max Kilman, West Ham will let Konstantinos Mavropanos and Nayef Aguerd go.
Captain Kurt Zouma is already on his way to the United Arab Emirates with Al-Shabab.
Tim Steidten thrilled with Frenchman’s arrival
“This is another significant signing for the Football Club and shows the attraction of West Ham for top players in Europe,”
“It’s no secret that Jean-Clair is a player we’ve been tracking for some time, so we’re delighted to have got this signing over the line ahead of the start of the new season,” Steidten beams.
“He’s got proven pedigree in European football, especially in France, where he has shone in recent years. Showing all of his qualities as one of the finest ball-playing centre-halves in Ligue 1.
“There was huge interest from across Europe for his signature this summer, and we’re once again indebted to the Board for backing us to bring in a player who is approaching the peak years of his career.
“I’m sure the West Ham fans are excited about Jean-Clair’s arrival, and we can’t wait to see him playing in a West Ham shirt.”
Todibo had a spell at Barcelona as a youngster, honing the technical qualities that should now come to the fore in claret-and-blue.
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