ITS NOW DONE – Personal terms agreed, jersey number confirmed already as Ange Postecoglou first priority signing finally agreed to join Spurs, club now waiting for official bid from Spurs.
Tottenham Hotspur are looking for a new centre-back in the January transfer window and manager Ange Postecoglou would like to get business wrapped up sooner rather than later.
It’s no secret that Tottenham are looking to strengthen their options at centre-back and the January transfer window is the next chance the club have of doing just that. The club consider the position a priority with Spurs currently fighting to get back into Europe next season.
Ange Postecoglou has had to work with limited options at the heart of his defence of late after he lost both Micky van de Ven and Ashley Phillips to injury in November and had Cristian Romero suspended for three matches due to his red card against Chelsea.
Tottenham have recently held talks over a potential move for French centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo, who is currently impressing at Nice as they sit second in Ligue 1 behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain. The 23-year-old made his first appearance for France’s national team in September against Germany and won his second cap in November, starting alongside Dayot Upamecano in a record-breaking 14-0 win against Gibraltar.
Todibo has attracted attention not just from Spurs but from other clubs in the Premier League, with Manchester United and Newcastle United both also said to be keen admirers of the centre-back, who is valued at £30.2million by Transfermarkt.
Tottenham’s talks with Nice show they’d like to get a deal done promptly, which is just what Postecoglou suggested he’d like to see happen when addressing the January transfer window two weeks ago.
“Yeah, it is challenging,” he told the media. “The reason is where we’re obviously at injury-wise, the players we’re going to miss, we’ve got some significant games in January and signing somebody late in January could mean they haven’t been able to make an impact in those other games.
“We’re pushing hard but you need all parties to agree to that. Other clubs, particularly if it’s players they want, will be wanting to hold on to them for as long as possible for their own reasons through January. It is a challenge, I get that, but everyone at the club is working hard to get the best outcomes for us and we’ll see how it goes.”
Todibo would be an excellent addition to Postecoglou’s squad, but what squad number would he take if Spurs get the deal over the line? The defender currently wears the No. 6 shirt for Nice which he changed to over the summer following 103 appearances for the club donning the number 25. The Toulouse academy graduate has said the No. 6 is his favourite, having also worn it during his stint at Barcelona earlier in his career.
Well, as luck would have it, Tottenham have the No. 6 squad number available for the first time since 2017 following the departure of Davinson Sanchez to Turkish side Galatasaray back in September. Previous players to have donned the digits before the Colombian are Nabil Bentaleb, Vlad Chiriches and Tom Huddlestone.
The numbers currently available at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are (1-40): 2, 3, 6, 16, 24, 25, 26, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 39.
