‘Not my problem’ – Barcelona loanee admits club’s fortunes don’t interest him at all

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo says that he is indifferent to the fortunes of his parent club while on loan at Nice.

The centre-back moved to Barcelona from Toulouse in 2019 but failed to make the breakthrough at Camp Nou.

He had loan spells and Schalke and Benfica, the latter of which proved to be such a dud he returned to his parent club after just a few months.

Now Todibo finds himself on loan at Nice. Playing regular football, he admits that he hopes he can prolong his stay with the Ligue 1 side and says

“I don’t know if it a deal is sorted for next season, but it is an ambition of mine. So I strongly hope it happens. My individual performances will determine if I stay here or not. Nothing is done,” he told the press.

Todibo at Nice

Asked about Barcelona’s fortunes, he said: “Without lying to you, I am not strongly interested in what’s going on. I watch from time to time matches when my French colleagues play like Ousmane Dembele, Clément Lenglet or Samuel Umtiti. I watch just because I consider them to be friends. But aside from that I am not necessarily following them.

“I am focused on OGC Nice, that is most important for me. What good does it do to dream of the Barcelona defence when at the weekend I play vs Rennes or Nimes? The most important thing is to focus on those matches. They are matches that will bring points for Nice. Today I am a Nice player, I am not a Barcelona player.”

Meanwhile, Todibo does not appear at all concerned about Barca’s Champions League tie with PSG, a match in which they will try to turn around a 4-1 deficit.

“Honestly that doesn’t interest me at all. I hope for them that they will do a Remontada. They either do it, or they don’t. That is not my problem if you know what I mean,” he said.

Such comments are unlikely to go down well with Barca head coach Ronald Koeman.

Todibo, who has formed a fine partnership with on-loan Arsenal defender William Saliba with Nice, can be purchased by the Ligue 1 club from Barcelona on a permanent basis for €8.5 million, plus €7m in bonuses.