Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to bring Khephren Thuram and Jean-Clair Todibo to Manchester United
New Manchester United investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been sent a firm message from officials of Nice, who are making it clear they have no plans to cash in on Khephren Thuram and one of his teammates this year.
The British business is now just days away from officially seeing his 25% investment into Manchester United given Premier League approval, with Ratcliffe admitting he was expecting it be “early February” for his purchase to go through. However, the truth of the matter is, the 71-year-old has already been working on his masterplan to resurrect the faltering giants of English football.
Alongside Sir Dave Brailsford, who has been acting as both Ratcliffe’s deputy and is currently undertaking a thorough audit of the club’s entire football operations, the two men have already made changes behind the scenes, swooping to bring in a highly-regarded official from Manchester City.
Work on improving the playing squad is also well underway, though it remains uncertain if Ratcliffe and Co will add to their playing options this month.
However, with Erik ten Hag clear that his side need more options in attack, United do still hope to bring in a new striker to present the Dutchman with another option up front.
The bulk of their business, however, will undoubtedly be done in the summer months with serious funds expected to be put forward to help the club strengthen once again.
With Ratcliffe set to appoint a new sporting director at Old Trafford, much of the club’s transfer dealings are expected to be taken out of Ten Hag’s hands.
And with their midfield also identified as an area of obvious weakness, reports in France claim United are strongly pushing to bring in Thuram from Nice this month.
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The 22-year-old France international has established himself as one of the leading young defensive midfielders in the world game, excelling under the coaching of Francesco Farioli, whose side are the closest title threat to PSG this season.
As a result, it’s claimed Ratcliffe has identified the France international as a strong candidate to bolster their midfield and provide an upgrade for Sofyan Amrabat, who has struggled to establish himself since his loan move from Fiorentina.
And while United do have a €20m option to make sign the Moroccan permanently, it’s reported they are likely to let that option lapse and send the player back to Italy and target an upgrade in his place.
Thuram has also been strongly linked with Liverpool over the past year, with their scouts taking a long and detailed look at his progress for Nice. While a summer bid for his services was not ultimately forthcoming, he has remained a player of interest for Jurgen Klopp and Co.
With Ratcliffe’s INEOS group also owning Thuram’s club Nice, though, the Red Devils would surely hold a major advantage were any transfer race to ensue for the €45m-rated (£38.6m) midfielder.
The same can be said for another Ratcliffe target in Nice’s dominant defender Jean-Clair Todibo, whose form this season is another big factor in their chase to eclipse PSG to the Ligue 1 crown.
Linked with Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Tottenham, any move for Todibo would set his suitors back at least €60m (£51.4m) were Nice to be convinced to sell.
While a January move for either is not on the cards, it’s widely accepted that Nice will face a tough battle retaining the services of either come the summer.
Todibo, Thuram are ‘not for sale’
However, Nice sporting director Florent Ghisolfi has made clear the pair have a leading role to play in the club’s future and that, even amid links to Manchester United, the pair will not be considered for sale.
“We want to have stability, and stability is keeping your best players,” Ghisolfi said in an interview with Get French Football News. “Jean-Clair and Khephren Thuram are definitely that. We absolutely want to keep them.”
Ghisolfi added: “We see JC (Todibo) and Thuram as leaders as they are vice-captains. I hope they will quickly come back from suspension and injury and quickly bring their freshness, leadership and enthusiasm.”
Thuram did indeed return from injury against Bordeaux this weekend, stepping off the bench to help the side claim a 3-2 win in the French Cup.
Todibo, meanwhile, also returned from suspension in the game as Le Gym reached the last 16 of the competition.
Despite Ghisolfi’s claims, L’Equipe are adamant that at least one of Todibo or Thuram – and possibly both – will be sold by Nice this summer and that may yet give Man Utd hopes of a future deal.
