Ratcliffe spared blame of killing Tottenham transfer for Man Utd gain as separate Spurs deal nears
Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be at the heart of a major revamp at Manchester United this summer
Tottenham reportedly did not miss out on Jean-Clair Todibo because of “some plot” from Manchester United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, rather that Nice “don’t want to sell.”
A centre-back snare has seemingly been top of Ange Postecoglou’s list at Spurs for a while. Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven both being injured at the same time has exposed the lack of useful options other than that pair.
For the last couple of games, full-backs Ben Davies and Emerson Royal have played in the centre.
As such, it seems quality and depth in the heart of the Tottenham defence is a necessity.
The two main options when the January window opened appeared to be Genoa man Radu Dragusin and Nice defender Todibo.
Fabrizio Romano reported Spurs wanted a defender in by this week (commencing January 1) but any move for Todibo would not ‘be done shortly’.
That suggested that Nice were already prepared to play hardball for what they wanted, and it was since reported they’d rejected Tottenham’s advances, and it looks like the north London outfit have given up.
That’s left them to focus their attention on Dragusin, who’s reported to have agreed upon personal terms, with talks between Spurs and Genoa advancing over the deal itself.
Ratcliffe not to blame for Todibo failure
Nice rejecting the advances of Tottenham for Todibo could be seen as an effort from owner Ratcliffe to ensure the defender instead moved to Man Utd. Indeed, he’ll be in place as part-owner soon, and given United also want Todibo, he might have ensured he remained available for them.
However, Ben Jacobs has poured cold water on that theory, stating it was simply that Nice don’t want to lose him.
“I reiterate what I said on the Spurs front. For Spurs, Todibo was a clear target, they started talks and they were immediately pessimistic, that’s why they’ve moved on,” Jacobs said on The Football Terrace.
“The reason for that isn’t some plot by Ratcliffe to come in at Man United and then sell the player to Manchester United, it’s because Nice simply don’t want to sell.”
Ratcliffe won’t want to significantly weaken one of his sides just to aid the other, so it seems unlikely Todibo will move from Nice to United despite Spurs missing out on him.
Dragusin snare edges closer
While Tottenham did not manage to get Todibo, it looks more and more likely that Dragusin will be over the line soon.
Romano has issued an update, stating a ‘new round of talks’ are scheduled ‘soon’.
The only sticking point in the transfer is the fee, with Genoa wanting close to £26million, while Spurs came in at around £20million initially.
But with Postecoglou ‘convinced’ that he wants Dragusin, he’s not likely to let it get to a point where he can’t get him through the door.
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