If OGC Nice displays the best defense in the championship, Jean-Clair Todibo has nothing to do with it. The 23-year-old central defender has been performing well since the start of the season. Arriving at the winter transfer window for the 2020-21 financial year from FC Barcelona, where he had a fairly mixed experience, it quickly turned out that the Riviera club had sensed the right move. Since then, forming an unbreakable duo with Dante, who brought him all his experience, the right-hander has become an indisputable starter, and to make matters worse, the fans’ favorite.
It must be said that Todibo has it all: skilled at restarting, he became the record holder for the most passes made in a match against Metz (0-1), during the eighth day of Ligue 1. With 181 on the clock, he surpassed Thiago Motta and his 165 passes with PSG against Bastia in 2016. He also distributed an assist this season against Strasbourg (2-0). Performing well in the air thanks to his 1.90 meter height, he is also not afraid of a duel. Despite almost two tackles per game on average this season in Ligue 1, he is very clean in his interventions since he has still not received even the least warning. In summary, Todibo is the prototype of the modern defender. His trainer Francesco Farioli is also full of praise for him, saying “he is progressing a lot, has confidence and makes the right decisions”.
Despite himself, Jean-Clair Todibo found himself at the heart of a controversy last week. Called up for the French team to compensate for William Saliba’s withdrawal, the Niçois stood out, and not for the better, during the match counting for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against the Netherlands (2-1 victory) . During the minute of silence in tribute to the victims of the conflict between Hamas and Israel and the attack committed in Arras, the French international was seen giggling. Which immediately set fire to social networks, which turned into a media tribunal.
Todibo explained that he was overcome by “nervous laughter”. He then apologized, before saying: “I’m touched, because it taints the education that my mother gave me. Some said that I laughed during this minute of silence because I was making fun of the death of a teacher. You should know that my mother has worked in national education for twenty years and I have enormous respect for these people. » Preserved by Deschamps during the following match against Scotland (4-1), Todibo returned to Nice without having had any playing time with the Blues. Faced with the extent that the affair has taken on social networks, the Aiglon will want to put its head back together and put out a solid defensive performance. “Very focused” since his return from selection according to Farioli, the Nice wall will be a problem to resolve for the Marseille attackers this Saturday (9 p.m.), at the Allianz Riviera.
