Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo joins Benfica on two-year loan deal with option to buy

Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo has signed for Benfica on a two-year loan deal with an option to buy. 

The 20-year-old defender completed a move to the Catalans on a free transfer 12 months ago but spent the second-half of last season on loan at Bundesliga side Schalke. 

Fulham were linked with a move for the 6ft 3inch defender with Scott Parker’s side reportedly keen to pay £16.3million for the player’s signature. 

Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo has moved to Benfica on a two-year loan deal

Now he has moved to the Portuguese giants on a £1.8million loan deal with an option to make the deal permanent for £18million at the end of the temporary spell. 

The French defender came through the ranks at Toulouse before breaking into the first-team in 2018. Todibo r played just ten times in the French top-flight before moving to Barcelona – then managed by Ernesto Valverde. 

The centre-back played just four times in LaLiga before being shipped out to Schalke on loan, where he played eight times for David Wagner’s side – who failed to pick up a single win from the beginning of the Bundesliga restart to the end of the season. 

The 20-year-old French defender spent the second half of last season on loan at Schalke

Todibo is the third high-profile defensive arrival at Benfica, who completed deals for Premier League duo Jan Vertonghen and Nicolas Otamendi earlier this summer.

Vertonghen moved from Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer after eight years in north London while Otamendi ended a five-year spell at Manchester City to move to Portugal for £13.5million. 

Todibo has been capped nine times for the France Under 20s since making his international youth debut at that level in 2018.