West Ham United transfer news: Lens ready to cut short Jean-Clair Todibo loan

Lens gambled on a loan move for West-Ham's Jean-Clair Todibo during the latest summer transfer window to strengthen their defence. It has not paid off so far, and the decision is already being questioned.

During the latest summer transfer window, Lens rebuilt part of their squad following the departures of some key players, such as Mamadou Sangare, Adrien Thomasson and Malang Sarr. To make up for the free departure of the Senegal centre-back, the northern club turned to Maik Nawrocki, who arrived from Celtic for €2.5m (£2.1m), and Todibo, who joined on loan from West Ham.

Lens unfortunately cannot count on the Pole, who suffered a cruciate ligament rupture early in the season. The former Nice defender, who wanted to join Marseille this summer, therefore had a fine opportunity to establish himself in Lens’ defensive rotation, but his spell has started in a complicated way.

Jean-Clair Todibo’s poor start against Club Brugge

Indeed, the 26-year-old has played only four matches since his arrival, two of them starts. Dino Toppmoller initially, and Yannick Cahuzac now, prefer to rely on Ismaelo Ganiou, Kyllian Antonio, Samson Baidoo and Jonathan Gradit.

On Wednesday, Todibo played his first minutes of the season in the Champions League against Club Brugge, replacing Baidoo at half-time in a 3-0 defeat. The France international was at fault for both goals conceded by Lens in the second half. L’Equipe gave him a rating of 3/10, the worst of the match alongside Michal Skoras.

Despite rumours, Lens plan to keep Jean-Clair Todibo

Questions are therefore beginning to be asked about this signing. On X, Abdel_Hamed6, who is often well informed and notably revealed the Yacine Titraoui lead at Lens, announced that the club were ‘considering parting with Jean-Clair Todibo for various internal reasons’. The insider did not specify these reasons, which would be in addition to the player’s disappointing performances.

After this revelation, Foot Mercato editor-in-chief Sebastien Denis denied the information. He said that there is, for the moment, no thought within the northern club of cutting the centre-back’s loan short. British journalist Ben Jacobs has heard the same. Todibo should therefore stay at Lens, but he will need to get going quickly to play more.