The media are reporting that Saints are talking to Barcelona about taking one of their central defenders on loan for the season.

Saints reportedly want to take Barcelona starlet Jean-Clair Todibo on loan for the coming season according to a report from the Sunday People.

The report adds that the Catalan side rate the 19 year old Frenchman extremely highly and feel that he would benefit from a season away from the Nou Camp as he continues to perfect his game.

Todibo only joined Barca back in January after breaking into the first team in France with Toulouse and he made a couple of appearances for them at the tail end of last season.

Turning 20 in December he can play as either a central defender or as a defensive midfielder, Saints would seem to be a good fit for him and this could be a big influence on Barcelona in choosing a club they would loan him out to, as we have a reputation for giving the youngsters a chance.

Although the signing would only be for the season and highly unlikely to have an option to buy, although as we have seen those options are absolutely worthless other than fixing a price.

These days loan signings are a good way of bringing in players destined for big things but at clubs where the situation isn't right to allow them to break through, we have used loan signings in the past to our advantage including that of Toby Alderweireld and although that ended on a sour note, the fact was that we were still better having him on a temporary basis for one season than we would have been without him.

This would not be the first time we have loaned a player from the Catalan Giants, 25 years ago we borrowed Ronnie Ekelund, a player still talked about by fans of a certain age, even though a back injury curtailed his appearances for the club,he formed a electric partnership with Matthew Le Tissier scoring 5 goals in only 15 starts plus another 2 off the bench in the Premier League.

Sadly the back injury he suffered virtually ended his career, at least to the standard he should have reached, although after returning to Spain he spent tie on loan before ending his career in the USA with San Jose Earthquakes where he is today in a coaching capacity.

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 14:52 - Aug 4 Hopefully this is a done deal this week.
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bstokesaint added 15:26 - Aug 4 Would obviously take any improvement and like you say Nick loan to buy deals mean naff all. It does seem a tad of last minute desperation though given we’ve had so long to buy the ideal permanent solution.
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bstokesaint added 15:27 - Aug 4 You’d think a recruitment team who brought in the likes of Lovren, Toby and VVD wouldn’t struggle, but..
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Big_T added 15:38 - Aug 4 Hope not ! We do not need young players with attitude problems. Dig a little and you will find that Toulouse had troubles with him, it seems that Barcelona have also had many problems with his attitude. Found this quite quickly and easily; "Barcelona are concerned over the progress of teenage defender Jean-Clair Todibo", according to reports in Mundo Deportivo. According to feature writer Fernando Polo, club sources have confirmed that the promising centre back appears to have become distracted, with fears over his attitude towards being a professional. Initially he was supposed to join the La Liga champions in July 2019, however when their request to move the transfer forward by six months were met with resistance by Toulouse, Todibo went on strike to force the move. Senior figures inside the club are now worried that this attitude is returning, with coaches reporting that he is unwilling to listen to advice and under performing in training.

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underweststand added 16:37 - Aug 4 He is already a young player with a reputation... whereas many of the others with Saints are still struggling to get regular game time at U23 level. It depends a lot on his attitude and application to see if he can accept that the Southampton Way means being a team player where no-one is guaranteed a game every week. On the plus side, he seems like a good prospect ...and who knows what the Barca side will look like in a years time. If he does well with us, we may find "his head being turned" in our favour at the thought of signing permanently and getting game time in the Prem. The U23 squad looks pretty hot at the moment and it will be good to see that - having been promoted - if they can put out some good displays at the higher level this season. If we've gone as a far as having contract talks with Barca - then he must be worth a try.

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CanadianSaint added 17:23 - Aug 4 It's pretty straight forward really. Saints have to much dead wood to get rid of in one transfer window. In order to improve at CB they will need a year rental player. Ralph needs 2-3 windows to get rid of the burden hes been settled with. Great deal if they can sign this lad for 1 year. Not hard to figure out really.
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highfield49 added 17:34 - Aug 4 Big T, well at least he's got VVDs attitude then, if he's as good a player I for one will be happy.
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saintmark1976 added 18:06 - Aug 4 If there is any truth in the suggestion that we are interested then all I can say is it must be out of pure desperation. After all,we've had since early May to obtain a proven quality centre back and to date failed miserably.Add in the fact that we've lost our assistant manager, the new shirts aren't available and I still haven't received my season ticket or parking pass and I'm beginning to ask myself what the hell is going on at St Mary's.

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KriSaint added 21:22 - Aug 4 I wonder if he is black or white?
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A1079 added 22:24 - Aug 4 Have no idea whether this is a good option or not. I feel a bit like Bstokesaint and saintmark76. For all the time that we have had to sort this out, it is starting to smell of desperation.
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brady100 added 19:55 - Aug 5 Fairly pointless thread. When do we ever loan other teams top young talent? Never.
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SaintBrock added 20:04 - Aug 5 Terrible idea. What happens next summer when Barca want him back. If we can't find the right person at the right price, stick with what we have. What is the point of pissing off our own players if they can't get a game because this Barca kid proves to be magic.
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