Fabrizio Romano confirms West Ham move for Man Utd and Liverpool target amid major De Ligt and Yoro updates

Manchester United’s attempts to boost their defensive ranks received mixed news on Wednesday morning after reported target Jean-Clair Todibo was said to have been pushed towards joining a Premier League rival.

The departures of veteran centre-back Raphael Varane and academy graduate Willy Kambwala weakened Erik ten Hag’s defensive options and there has been a three-pronged attempt to bring in reinforcements in recent weeks. The Red Devils have made significant progress over a £52million deal for Lille’s highly-rated youngster Leny Yoro, who is believed to be heading to Manchester to undergo a medical over the next 48 hours. Talks over a move Bayern Munich star Matthijs de Ligt are also said to be progressing well and there could be some progress over that deal over the coming days as the Netherlands international closes in on a reunion with his former Ajax head coach at Old Trafford.

Any possible agreement for Todibo was always going to be complicated after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s role as a shareholder at the 13-time Premier League champions was confirmed earlier this year. The Ineos supremo is a majority shareholder at Ligue 1 club Nice and UEFA’s multi-club regulations seemed to have put a block on any deal to take the twice-capped France international to Old Trafford. Ratcliffe hit out at the regulations in an interview with Bloomberg last month, saying: “They've said we can sell him to another Premiership club,' Ratcliffe said. 'But we can't sell to Manchester United. But that's not fair on the player and I don't see what that achieves.”

The Red Devils are far from the only Premier League club that have shown an interest in the Nice centre-back after Newcastle United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur were all named as potential suitors for the former Barcelona defender in recent months. Serie A giants Juventus are also said to be keen on Todibo and recent reports from journalist Fabrizio Romano have claimed the defender would prefer a move to Turin if he is to leave Nice this summer. He posted on X (formerly Twitter): West Ham are still interested in Jean-Clair Todibo but he’s giving total priority to Juventus now. Todibo wants Juventus; the club need to sell players in order to try again.”

That followed on from earlier reports suggesting West Ham had been successful with a season-long loan offer for Todibo with an option to convert the switch into a £26.8m permanent move next summer. Nice are said to be pushing the player to joining the Hammers as Juve are yet to make any offer for the 24-year-old.

Foot Mercato journalist Santi Arouna clarified the situation earlier on Wednesday morning as he posted on X: “Agreement found between Nice and West Ham for Jean-Clair Todibo. Loan with purchase option of €36m plus bonuses. The Aiglons push the player to accept the offer but the defender wants to join Juventus. JC (Todibo) gives priority to the sports project. Juve wants to make it their priority. Upcoming contacts between Juve and Nice.”