Against Reims, Jean-Clair Todibo (21 years old) played his 11th game with the Aiglons in all competitions . The centre back has never played more games for a club at professional level. It’s a chance to look at his stats with the Rouge et Noir…

He arrived at OGC Nice on February 1st with a smile on his face, motivated but also with some questions to answer about his somewhat surprising journey. Two and a half months later, Jean-Clair Todibo has cemented his place in the centre of defence with his strength motivation and pocketing everyone on his way, from opponents to Aiglons and their fans. In 11 games (9 in L1 and 2 in Coupe de France), the man who started at Toulouse and on loan from Barcelona put his stamp on the team with his love for duels but also playing out from the back and a little bit of dribbling that sets stadiums alight if it was possible.

Behind the number 25’s style of play he is also a massive influence on the team. That influence, like his teammate William Saliba’s that was on show last week is also proven in the stats. First of all from the team’s perspective: Nice have a 56% win rate with Todibo in the 2020/21 Ligue 1 (5/9) against 30% without him (7/23). Proof that the calmness also brings results.

Whereas Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara (11) has more starts than Todibo (9) in the top European leagues since February 2021 in defenders born in 1999 or after, the Parisian native is also known for two parts of his game. The first one concerns the “biggest” part of a defender’s job. Since his arrival, Todibo has the 3rd most balls won (59), behind Kamara (64) and Saliba (69).

The second one shows the beauty of his position and the modern way of building up from the back. Since his arrival he has the 3rd most touches (723), behind Saliba (746) and Kamara (783), or the 9th most in the whole of the top flight, with an average of 80,3 touches per game.

Finally, since February, only Abdou Diallo has completed more dribbles per game on average (1,8) than Todibo (1,3) from all the centre backs who played at least five games in Ligue 1. It also has to be noted that the PSG man has also played at left back…

That stat proves that despite the pressure and competition football still remains a game. Even at the back.

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