AC Milan officials have arrived in Spain to complete a deal for Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo, who will join the Italian giants on loan for the remainder of the season.
The ex-Toulouse centre-back signed for Barça just under a year ago, but he has struggled to break into the Spanish champions’ first-team, and looks set to leave Camp Nou in search of regular football.
Although the finer details of the deal are still to be ironed out between the two clubs, ?Diario AS reports that Barcelona will definitely retain the player’s services at the end of the loan spell.
Todibo is thought to be one of the most talented young defenders in Europe, and la Blaugrana fought off competition from ?Juventus and other top clubs to sign the 20-year-old back in January 2019.
The French centre-back has struggled to adapt to life in Spain since his switch was made official at the end of last season, and his failure to settle into his new surroundings is one of the key factors in Barça’s decision to offload him to ?Milan.
?Barcelona’s staff see this move as a good opportunity for Todibo to earn some much-needed first-team experience in a pressurised environment, and they believe that I Rossoneri will provide a good base for the youngster to learn.
An announcement of the deal is expected to be made in the near future, and the ex-Toulouse man has been left out of Ernesto Valverde’s match-day squad to face Espanyol on Saturday evening.
Todibo has made only two league appearances for los Culés this season, but he did play the full 90 minutes in the Catalonian side’s 2-1 victory over Milan’s bitter rivals ?Inter in the Champions League, which knocked I Nerazzurri out of the European competition.
Milan have been in wretched form this season, entering the winter break in the bottom half of the table, having won only six of their 17 league matches thus far.
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