Former Barcelona defender on his ordeal at club – ‘Nobody wanted to talk to me’

Former Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo is set to be a man in demand in the summer transfer window, with several top clubs vying for his signing.

The French international had always been tipped for success in the game but things did not quite work out for him when he signed for Barça in the early stages of his career.

Todibo joined the Catalan heavyweights from Toulouse in January 2019 but never clicked. After loan stints at Schalke and SL Benfica, he signed for Nice in the winter of 2021, again on a temporary deal, with the transfer being made permanent the following summer.

Todibo was seen as Pique’s replacement at Barcelona

Things have worked out very well for Todibo since he signed for Nice, but it was not the same at Barcelona.

In a recent interview, Todibo opened up on his ordeals at the Catalan outfit, remarking that people at Barça viewed him as a replacement for Gerard Pique but he never got any chances.

“It was said that I was going to take over from Piqué, but I never had a real chance. I only played five games and I did well, but they never said anything to me. Nobody wanted to talk to me at Barcelona except Abidal,” he said.

At the same time, Todibo also accepted that he was not fully prepared for the move to one of the biggest institutions in football at that stage in his career.

The defender also admits that being surrounded by world-class players also helped him in his career, saying:

“At Barcelona I learnt a lot in training and playing with great players.”

Barcelona stand to gain

Todibo has been garnering a lot of interest heading into the summer transfer window and Barcelona will be paying close attention to the situation.

After all, the Catalan giants retain a 20% future sell-on clause for the centre-half and any switch from Nice would lead to part of the transfer fee land in the Blaugrana coffers.