Daniel Kretinsky appears to have changed West Ham’s stance on wantaway defender Jean-Clair Todibo and it is so refreshing to see.
It is fair to say nobody at West Ham will be sad to see the back of Jean-Clair Todibo.
The French defender never truly wanted to join the Hammers in the first place, having to be persuaded over weeks by technical director of the time Tim Steidten.
There have been glimpses of Todibo’s undoubted talent which saw him land a £20m move to Barcelona as a teenager.
No-nonsense Kretinsky changes stance on West Ham flop Todibo
But it has been far too fleeting among the string of often pitiful displays, none worse than Todibo’s disaster-class in the defeat at Newcastle which ultimately sent West Ham down at the end of last season.
After being justifiably dragged off after 25 minutes at St James’ Park, Todibo told Nuno Espirito Santo he would never play for him again and refused to make himself available for selection for the season finale against Leeds.
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On his return to pre-season at Rush Green, Todibo reiterated to West Ham he wants out ASAP after his bust-up with Nuno – which follows fall-outs with Graham Potter and Julen Lopetegui.
The 26-year-old has not featured for the Hammers in pre-season despite being seen in full training.
Apparently Todibo has told West Ham he refuses to play in the Championship.
The irony of that will not be lost on supporters who feel most of his performances are more Championship than Champions League.
At £35m, Todibo is one of the leading examples of West Ham’s terrible recruitment in recent years.
With big wages, offloading the lackadaisical defender is easier said than done.
Hardline Hammers won’t bow to player power like old regime
That’s why West Ham were happy to ship Todibo out on loan with Juventus interested, among other Italian and French clubs.
Todibo is reportedly pushing the Hammers to accept loan proposals for him so he can leave the east Londoners.
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But player power holds little water with mean businessman Daniel Kretinsky it seems.
West Ham fans have been blown away by Kretinsky’s hardline stance on transfers since he took the helm from David Sullivan.
The Czech billionaire pulled off a transfer masterclass by getting £155m for Mateus Fernandes and Crysencio Summerville.
Now no-nonsense Kretinsky appears to have changed West Ham’s stance on wantaway Todibo.
All reporting regarding Todibo this summer has claimed he will leave the club on loan with West Ham hoping to persuade any suitors to sign up to an obligation to buy clause at best and option at worst.
But now reporter Sébastien Vidal, co-founder and deputy editor-in-chief of Weekend Sports, claims West Ham are demanding clubs cough up to sign Todibo on a permanent deal.
Vidal says Marseille are very interested in signing Todibo, who likes the idea of a return to his homeland.
But like the other clubs eyeing the Hammers flop, Marseille prefer a loan with an option to buy.
Kretinsky is not one to be moved easily, though, and Vidal states that West Ham don’t care what other clubs ‘prefer’ because they will be demanding a permanent transfer.
It makes such a refreshing change to see West Ham operating with such tenacity and authority in the transfer market.
It sends a shudder down the spine to think the Hammers sold top stars like Dimitri Payet and Marko Arnautovic for peanuts under the previous regime, where player power always won the day.
Payet was one of the best players on the planet when West Ham sold him back to Marseille for a paltry £25m.
The same could be said of Arnautovic, who was one of the most powerful, all-round strikers in Europe when the Irons let him go for the same fee.
Those days are long gone it seems, it won’t be happening on Kretinsky’s watch.
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