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Extended Clip - How Good is Juventus Target Jean-Clair Todibo? Position, Playing Style, Stats, Skills, Strengths & Weaknesses (Ep. 433)
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A profile deep dive on Juventus linked Jean-Clair Todibo with French football expert, journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Johnson discussing and analyzing everything from strengths, weaknesses, personality, how well he'll fit in tactically and much, much more.
This is a clip from a transfer scouting profile deep dive episode of the Italian Football Podcast.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast.
Toribo's Link to Juventus
00:00:05
Speaker
Another player linked heavily with Juve is Toribo, who plays for Nice as well. ah But he's more of a he's a central defender, isn't he?
Toribo's Defensive Role and Skills
00:00:17
Speaker
So let's start there. What's his position and his best role? Yeah, I mean, central defender is definitely where you see you know the best of Toribo, playing alongside normally a veteran presence in Dunch, the veteran Brazilian defender. So you know that would I think he struggled at the beginning of his career because many people assume that he'd be one of those kind of central defender defensive midfielder hybrids. And although you probably could ask him to play there, sort of
00:00:48
Speaker
you know as so a sort of like a ah placeholder solution if somebody was missing through injury or suspension that he wouldn't be a long-term fit in in defensive midfield certainly not as much as sort of maybe a Markinos when Thomas Tuchel experimented with him a few years ago so very much a central defender somebody with you know the kind of physicality that you'd want you know from a ah very rugged center back especially given Calcio's history with with rugged no-nonsense central defenders.
Experience Across Europe
00:01:23
Speaker
Well, I think he's, but the thing that would surprise most people is, ah you know, as with a lot of players coming through the French system, he can be sort of, you know, surprisingly technical at times as well. I think for me, he's, he's quite similar to William Saliba, which is interesting given that both of them played together for a short period of time and Saliba was loaned there in that
00:01:45
Speaker
He's almost, he's acquiring a lot of experience at a very young age. And when the time comes for him to have a new central defensive partner, whether that's at Nice or whether that's at a future club, I think that he will, his strongest assets or one of his strongest assets will be the experience that he's had.
Financial Concerns and Club Transitions
00:02:06
Speaker
and managed to pack into so few years in the professional game when you look at some of the clubs that he's gone through so far obviously starting out at Toulouse, you know the move to Barcelona came too early but then he had some interesting loan experiences I think he even went to Schalke in Germany so he's seen a lot of different footballing cultures as well and whoever gets him next
00:02:28
Speaker
I think we'll get somebody who not only has a long time left to go in their career, somebody who's also managed to get themselves back on track and now arguably ahead of schedule in terms of their development, ah mentally and physically. And you know I think he is now a very imposing central central defensive figure, as somebody who I think will be coveted by a number of top European clubs.
Italian Clubs' Hesitation
00:02:54
Speaker
I think the thing that will probably pump the brakes for the moment, certainly in terms of an Italian club trying to do business with a French club,
00:03:03
Speaker
is the uncertain financial situation for both leagues right now linked to the situation because the price is mentioned for Todibo when things were a little more secure for French football. ah You know, it was pretty high and that also perhaps creates a market for somebody to come in and swoop for him now at a time when Italian clubs probably can't. Hmm.
Defensive Capabilities and Challenges
00:03:30
Speaker
Interesting. um What about his plain style? What kind of a defender would you say he is?
00:03:37
Speaker
yeah like i Like I said earlier, you know he's somebody who knows how to use his body well. um Although he will have the occasional kind of lapse of concentration, as we've seen from time to time, disciplinary wise, in terms of getting yourself sent off, he is somebody who reads the game well, positions himself well, you know knows when to use sort of his physical attributes, you know can also Play himself out of danger if needed. I'd say he's Potentially a very complete defender. You'd you'd argue that to really complete his profile He needs to be playing more regularly at international level and maybe that chance will come whether it's dish on who is overseeing the 2026 World Cup cycle or whether somebody else comes in like as an Indian sedan, for example, and
00:04:26
Speaker
um But I don't think necessarily that solution is only him moving club for that to happen. I think, you know, whether he stays at Nice or whether he goes somewhere else, breaking into that French setup is going to require consistency. And that's arguably the biggest mental challenge for him because he has it all in terms of the profile.
Potential in French National Team
00:04:49
Speaker
When you look at him on paper, it's just having that consistency, which he has had to be fair to him ah certainly in the last 18 months or so at Nice and if he can continue to perform at that level then surely the international recognition which is the final sort of missing piece for his game you know will be forthcoming. um Are there any other attributes that you would like to highlight in terms of what's what he's very good at in terms of strength?
00:05:17
Speaker
No, I mean, I think we've covered it all fairly well already. ah I do think, though, it's very underrated by many people, the the the experience factor, because to have somebody you know who is still essentially quite close to the beginning of their career, to have experienced so much already is is extremely rare. ah you know he's only 24, you know, to have gone through a number of those big clubs. I think I forgot Ben Fico and when I mentioned him earlier as well, and to be sort of on the verge of sort of getting to the 150 game mark for Nice already.
Inconsistencies and Off-Pitch Challenges
00:05:56
Speaker
I know that he's had a couple of runouts with the the French national team, but I do believe that sort of with that exposure to
00:06:05
Speaker
Players at the elite level in the same way that it's happened to Saliba this summer of the euro in my opinion You know, he will be ultimately a fixture for the French national team alongside Saliba Which you know will reunite them from their time with with nice and that defensive pairing would be extremely complementary I'd argue that Saliba if you were really comparing the two is probably an even better reader of the game and and certainly better in terms of his positioning but we've only seen sort of what Saliba can do you know in a position that's not actually necessarily his favorite position because of having to play alongside Diatep and Meccano
00:06:47
Speaker
So if you can sort of rekindle that partnership between Todiebo and Saliba at international level in the future I think you see a very complete central defensive pairing and I think that's really the next thing that will unlock sort of some of these or further develop some of these attributes that Todiebo has already illustrated with these. um Are there any other weaknesses? I mean, you already mentioned a few, um but are there any other meat weaknesses in this game that stand out?
00:07:19
Speaker
In his game, i mean i I think the lack of consistency or sometimes the the focus ah you know can drift a little bit, and that means that say you know he loaves around, but the you know his he can know his eye can be distracted from from what he's focused on. When he is focused, he is a very formidable player to to come up against. I'd actually say that maybe the biggest threat for Todibo is actually off the pitch. You know, the fact that he had so much so young, I think had an overinflated opinion of sort of where he was at in terms of his development when he made the move to the likes of of Barcelona. it's being quite a It's been quite a sobering experience, sort of, you know, the fall from grace.
Impact of Stability at Nice
00:08:06
Speaker
a Since it's not, you know, really making the grade of Barca struggling alone both shocker and Benfica and then ultimately coming good again back in the young with nice I think that that is You know, perhaps the the harshest lesson that Tony Boas had to learn so far in his career and it's potentially one of the only things that I could really see that ah could derail him in the future because as long as he remains grounded um I think that you know he will ultimately be able to to make good on his potential and perform well consistently and
00:08:47
Speaker
A big part of that as well will be some sort of stability at club level because as I mentioned before, despite the fact that they had a very good first half of last season, there hasn't been a stability at Nice in terms of the project, in terms of the ownership and the commitment ah you know for for those players to really stayed together for a number of years and and really looked to achieve something. I mean, Ferrioli in and out after, you know, one season kind of says it all. And I think Todibo as well as Turam, you know, will benefit potentially from being in a more stable environment in the future.