West Ham United signed Jean-Clair Todibo from OGC Nice during the summer transfer window.
The French international defender has joined the Hammers on loan with an obligation to buy him permanently at the end of the season. The Hammers will need to pay around €40 million for him in the summer.
However, the 24-year-old has struggled for regular game time at West Ham so far and he has not had ample opportunities to showcase his qualities.
The defender has played a total of seven minutes in the Premier League and he is yet to start a single game for his new club. A club insider has now revealed that the defender has not managed to convince manager Julen Lopetegui so far.
Apparently, the Spanish manager believes that the Frenchman is not strong enough to deal with the rigours of the Premier League. It remains to be seen whether the 24-year-old can prove his manager wrong and establish himself as a key player for the club.
“We are poor and need to improve,” a source at West Ham told Hammers News.
“Rightly or wrongly the manager thinks Todibo is not tough enough for the Premier League at the moment.
“But he deserves games.”
Todibo needs more chances
Todibo was a key player for OGC Nice during his time in Ligue 1 and he has proven his quality with them. There is no doubt that he is quality player. He will be desperate to play more often.
West Ham will need to give him more chances to showcase his ability. He has barely had the chance to test himself in English football and ruling him unfit for the league without giving him chances would be extremely harsh.
It remains to be seen how the situation develops of the next few weeks.
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