Italian press react to West Ham hijacking Juventus deal for Jean-Clair Todibo

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West Ham United are closing in on a deal to sign OGC Nice and the Italian media have reacted to the impending deal.

HITC has reported that West Ham United had a major breakthrough in talks for Jean-Clair Todibo and the French defender now looks set to swap France for East London.

We had also previously reported that West Ham had a bid accepted for Todibo last month but Thiago Motta’s Juventus had come in at the 11th hour to hijack the deal.

It now appears the Hammers have given the Turin-based side a taste of their own medicine and the Italian media are not happy about it.

Italian media react to Jean-Clair Todibo’s West Ham move

Earlier in the transfer window, Manchester United were interested in Todibo but a deal could be done as UEFA would not sanction a move for the Frenchman due to both United and OGC Nice playing in the Europa League.

The Turin club were convinced they could get this deal over the line. Todibo was initially determined to join the Old Lady, but changed his mind because they couldn’t find an agreement with the Ligue 1 side.

Juventus have already poached one of the Premier League’s most impressive players in Douglas Luiz, with the Brazilian midfielder departing Aston ViIla for a move to Turin.

However, with Todibo, Juventus have not had it all their own way with the French defender set to undergo his medical with West Ham over the weekend.

Calciomercato describe West Ham’s move for Todibo as a ‘mockery’ but the Italian outlet goes on to say that Juventus’ failure to sign the defender was because of their ‘obsession’ with Atalanta’s Teun Koopmeiners.

Media Set add: “West Ham’s blitz mocks Juve,”, while Juventus News 24 describes West Ham’s late hijacking of the deal as a ‘sensational’ development.

Juventus frustrated as they miss out on second target to Premier League

Another target who Juventus were keen on was Bologna’s Riccardo Calafiori with the Italian defender understood to be keen on moving to Turin.

However, Arsenal completed the signing of Calafiori last month and the Italian is set to play a key role for the Gunners next season.

Todibo moving to West Ham represents the second target that Juventus have missed out on in recent weeks but the reality is that the Turin side never came close to agreeing a fee with Nice for the signing of the Frenchman.