Club really don’t want to sell £35m defender to Chelsea this month

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Chelsea have now joined the race to sign Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo but could find it tricky to land him.

While Chelsea are keen on Jean-Clair Todibo, the Daily Mail claims that Nice are reluctant to sell the 24-year-old to the Blues or any other interested party this month.

According to the same outlet, the French club value Todibo at £35m, so perhaps Chelsea will be able to sign him for that price in the summer if they cannot obtain him in the current transfer window.

Mauricio Pochettino is not lacking options there, so he may be able to wait until the end of the season.

The Argentine currently has Thiago Silva, Axel Disasi, Benoit Badiashile, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill and Trevoh Chalobah all in his squad, though some of those names are unavailable at present.

Nice reluctant to sell Jean-Clair Todibo to Chelsea

Todibo is one of Nice’s best players and it is the middle of the season. It is hardly a surprise that they are not keen on doing business right now.

As per WhoScored, the France international is making 3.2 clearances per game in Ligue 1 this term, which is the highest average in Francesco Farioli’s squad.

If Chelsea really want to sign a new central defender this month, they may have to look at other options.

Journalist Ben Jacobs recently suggested that Sporting Lisbon’s Ousmane Diomande would be a more attainable target than Todibo, so perhaps he is one man that the Blues could turn to instead.

According to the Evening Standard, Diomande has a £69m release clause, so he will not be impossible to get during this transfer window.

Again, though, there may not actually be a need for Chelsea to go all out for a central defender at this moment in time, especially with Thiago Silva’s contract not up yet.