Strange situation as star Jean-Clair Todibo not seen in West Ham training for Everton but key man returns

The stakes have never been higher for Julen Lopetegui.

Majority owner David Sullivan started the week publicly backing the Spaniard after a 3-0 defeat at Forest.

But as the crunch clash with Everton approaches, it’s being claimed anything but a win could see Lopetegui sacked.

Sean Dyche’s Toffees will go above West Ham in the Premier League table with a win.

There are even reports that anything other a convincing win see the Hammers axe fall.

It says a lot about West Ham’s struggles that Everton will go above them with a win.

Everton had a dismal start to the season which saw Dyche fighting for his job amid claims the Toffees could bring back David Moyes.

West Ham are already without their best player Mohammed Kudus for the Everton clash.

Edson Alvarez will miss the game too after his sending off at Forest.

Now it seems another top West Ham player might be a potential doubt.

There’s a strange situation as star Jean-Clair Todibo is not seen in West Ham training for Everton.

But there is at least some good news for the Hammers as a key man returns.

Strange situation with Todibo but key man returns for West Ham

Last week French defender Todibo was nowhere to be seen in training footage and images released by the club ahead of Forest.

The £32.5m man has blown hot and cold since arriving from Nice and being drip-fed into the West Ham team.

Jekyll and Hyde performances have left many fans puzzled.

While Todibo was absent from training footage, he admitted he is still not even 80 per cent fit since arriving in east London.

He was on the bench against Man United the weekend before due to an injury issue.

That was aggravated when he came on in that game, which explained his absence from West Ham training footage last week.

Now West Ham have published footage from what’s described as an ‘high-intensity training session for the crucial match with Everton’.

And once again Todibo is, yet again, not on show.

Will Todibo be available for West Ham against Everton?

Just about every other Hammers player – bar long-term injury absentee Niclas Fullkrug – is on view.

That includes Tomas Soucek, who has returned after being sorely missed at Forest due to illness.

Soucek has a fantastic record against Everton, so his return is massive for the Hammers.

It’s unclear what is going on with Todibo.

It could be the centre-back is doing gym or rehab work on the mystery injury issue he’s been suffering with.

But his performance at Forest, where he was at fault for two of the three goals, suggests something is not quite right.

He played at Forest despite not being seen training with the team. Although his performance was highly questionable.

So it may be the same happens and he is made available for Everton too.

It will be interesting to hear what Lopetegui says when asked about team news ahead of the game.

Max Kilman and Konstantinos Mavropanos were seen training.

Todibo was nowhere to be seen, though, with academy players filling in for him during small-sided games.

It could mean the former Barcelona man is a doubt for Everton.

Perhaps he is needing extra time to recover due to his reported injury concern.

Or maybe he’s doing his own regime to try and get up to full match fitness.

Whatever is going on, West Ham fans will hope for some answers from Lopetegui.

Given his reluctance to engage in even the most straightforward questions during press conferences, though, perhaps they shouldn’t hold their breath.

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