Southampton: Saints set to miss out on signing Barcelona defender

A report has stated that another club are ahead of both Southampton and Watford in the race to sign Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo in the January transfer window.

According to calciomercato.com, AC Milan are close to agreeing a deal worth €20-€25m for the Frenchman despite Barca’s insistance on a buy back clause in his contract.

Todibo has made just three appearances for Barcelona this campaign and has enjoyed just 167 minutes of football with a wealth of defensive options ahead of him in the pecking order currently.

He joined the Catalan giants from Toulouse back in January for a fee of around £1m but has just 15 senior games under his belt, meaning he could still be a little raw.

Barcelona clearly think highly of him though after demanding a buy back clause in his contract should he agree to join Milan.

According to a recent report by ESPN, Saints and Watford had reportedly been looking at the option of bringing in the 19-year-old next month to shore up their leaky defences.

More from Saints Marching

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• Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
• It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
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• A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse

Thanks to a 9-0 home drubbing by Leicester City back in October, Saints have conceded the most goals – 36 – in the Premier League this season, whilst Watford aren’t far behind on 32.

Both sides still have just over half a season to save their Premier League statuses, with Saints in 18th but level on points with Aston Villa – who they play this coming weekend in yet another crucial clash.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have scored 18 league goals so far and have a red hot goalscorer in Danny Ings, so changing their fortunes at the back could prove to be the difference between survival and relegation to the Championship.

It is unclear how much money that the club will have to spend during January though and whether a £20m move for Todibo would be feasible in their current position.

Any players that do arrive may be the start of a new recruitment strategy for Saints after the departures of Les Reed and Ross Wilson in the past 13 months.