West Ham close to completing £34m signing of star whose transfer to Man Utd was 99 percent done

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed West Ham are on the cusp of completing the permanent signing of a player who came within an eyelash of joining Manchester United earlier this year.

The summer window was a monumental one for West Ham, with no fewer than NINE first-team players arriving.

Signing up in permanent deals were Wes Foderingham, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman, Guido Rodriguez, Luis Guilherme, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Fullkrug.

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Joining those seven players in the English capital were loanees Jean-Clair Todibo and Carlos Soler.

Todibo, 24, had initially looked on course to sign with Man Utd. The French centre-back was earmarked as an ideal addition at the heart of defence and the fact French side Nice share the same INEOS ownership with Man Utd appeared to make the move simpler.

However, UEFA blocked Man Utd from completing a deal that Fabrizio Romano reported was 99 percent done.

Man Utd’s near miss for Todibo

“Jean-Clair Todibo was 99 percent a new Manchester United player,” declared Romano in mid-July. “Everything was done, also on the player’s side, then everything collapsed because of UEFA rules.

“UEFA denied the possibility for any player to join a club with the same ownership playing in the same European competition; so before the [FA Cup] final at Wembley, Manchester United prepared everything to have Jean-Clair Todibo as a new player.

“Now, there is nothing ongoing. We had some reports that Manchester United would go legal for this one, but they are not true.

“Manchester United have already left the conversation for Todibo, there is no chance. But he was really almost there, almost done, to join Manchester United.”

The reason behind UEFA blocking the move related to the fact Man Utd and Nice will compete in the same competition this season (the Europa League).

Clubs who share the same ownership can transfer players between themselves, though not if they’re in the same competition.

Juventus stepped in once Man Utd pulled the plug and turned their attention to Leny Yoro and Matthijs De Ligt. However, Hammers sporting director Tim Steidten pulled off a shock when hijacking Juve’s move.

The final outcome was Todibo signed with West Ham on a season-long loan that contained a conditional obligation to buy.

Conditional obligations are becoming increasingly common in the game over recent times.

Indeed, Jadon Sancho’s loan switch from Man Utd to Chelsea contains such a clause and will be triggered if Chelsea finish 14th or higher in the Premier League this season. Even Chelsea at their worst are highly unlikely to finish 15th or below.

And according to a fresh update from Romano, West Ham’s conditional obligation to buy for Todibo is just as easily achievable. What’s more, the reporter claimed it will be triggered “soon.”

West Ham to complete permanent Todibo deal “soon”

Taking to X, the trusted reporter stated: “The obligation to buy clause (€40m) into Jean-Clair Todibo deal at West Ham from OGC Nice is very easy to reach, almost guaranteed.

“It will be triggered soon as French centre back can already be considered 100 percent West Ham player, as always mentioned.”

As stated, Todibo’s clause is worth €40m (approx. £34m / $44m). It has not been specified what the criteria is that will trigger the clause, though it is close to being activated nonetheless.

Once the clause has been activated, Todibo will be signed to the terms he agreed upon joining the club on loan.

A five-year deal (after the 2024/25 season) that runs until 2030 is in place.

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Todibo is one of just three senior centre-halves new manager Julen Lopetegui can choose from at present.

Despite signing Todibo and Max Kilman and retaining Konstantinos Mavropanos, the Hammers let four centre-halves leave (Angelo Ogbonna, Thilo Kehrer, Kurt Zouma, Nayef Aguerd).

As such, 19-year-old academy graduate Kaelan Casey was named on the bench last time out in the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City.

But according to various reports, West Ham are sizing up a move for former Liverpool centre-back, Joel Matip.

The 33-year-old is fully recovered from surgery to repair an ACL injury suffered in December. He also remains a free agent having brought his eight-year stint at Anfield to a close on June 30.

Given Matip is available via free agency, he can be signed and registered outside of the transfer window.

Fellow free agent centre-half, John Egan (most recently of Sheffield United) is also under consideration at West Ham.

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