Report: Wolves planning loan deal for £23m man they missed out on in 2019

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Barcelona will sell Jean-Clair Todibo for £23 million but Wolverhampton Wanderers would rather sign the Frenchman on loan with an option to buy, according to Mundo Deportivo.

Perhaps Nuno Espirito Santo’s side had their fingers burned by the last highly-rated centre-back who rocked up at Molineux from a La Liga giant.

Jesus Vallejo arrived with a burgeoning reputation at Real Madrid, though the Spain U21 captain proved to be more Roderick Miranda than Willy Boly in the Black Country.

After just one Premier League start, a calamitous 5-2 home defeat to Chelsea, Vallejo was on his way back to Madrid well ahead of schedule.

Thank god this was a short-term, rather than permanent, deal.

But if Wolves fans are worried of a repeat with Todibo emerging as a target for the Europa League quarter-finalists, those fears should be eased somewhat by the fact that this France U21 international has been on the club’s radar since as far back as 2018.

They have certainly done their homework.

Wolves were desperate to sign Todibo after he exploded onto the scene at Toulouse, only for Barcelona to blow them out of the water in January 2019 (Depeche).

20 months on, the now £23 million-rated centre-half is back on the radar after an impressive loan spell at Schalke.

Yet Wolves are hoping to minimise the risk by striking an agreement which would see Todibo move to Molineux on loan with an option to buy should he thrive where Vallejo failed in English football.

“Todibo is the best centre-back I’ve seen in a long time,” German legend Lothar Matthaus told Sport last year.