West Ham star watched club he’s been linked with while teammates played Villa

Now there is speculation that he already wants out of the London Stadium.

Signing Todibo was seen as the jewel in the crown of a magnificent summer window for West Ham.

After a slow start in which he was drip-fed into the side, Todibo has blown hot and cold with his performance levels.

He has looked potentially elite in some games and distinctly average in others.

Todibo has barely been seen since his big bust-up with Julen Lopetegui during half-time of the 5-2 defeat to Arsenal at the end of November.

Now he is out for at least another four to six weeks with yet another injury issue.

It’s all a far cry from what was one of the most exciting days of a busy summer window as technical director Tim Steidten flew to Nice and boarded the return flight with Todibo on board.

The French centre-back had made it clear Juventus was his preference over West Ham.

But Steidten managed to persuade the 24-year-old to move to east London instead.

Todibo’s West Ham future unclear amid conflicting reports

West Ham’s obligation to buy Todibo from Nice for £32m was essentially triggered after five Premier League starts and on the proviso the Hammers are not relegated.

So West Ham must pay for the defender in the summer.

Todibo’s strange spell in east London is perhaps best surmised by the last 48 hours.

Hammers website Claret and Hugh claimed Todibo was ‘gutted’ to be missing out on working with Graham Potter.

The report stated the Frenchman feels ‘liberated’ now Lopetegui has been sacked.

The Athletic then reported that Marseille had approached West Ham about signing Todibo.

But he reportedly informed his representatives he is happy with the Irons and has no interest in leaving.

Todibo feels settled in east London and wants to repay the faith shown in him by West Ham according to that report.

As well as Marseille, Juventus have also reignited their interest in Todibo.

There have been claims West Ham are open to shipping the £32m man out with another club taking over the loan and their obligation to buy him in the summer.

It’s also been claimed this week that Todibo does actually want out of West Ham by Monday’s deadline.

Todibo has not been available for West Ham’s new manager yet.

Todibo watched club he’s been linked with while Hammers played Villa

But Potter has stamped his authority by making players out of the Hammers squad like Todibo attend home games to support their teammates.

Many fans have been reacting after a picture of Todibo emerged on social media.

The West Ham star watched a club he’s been linked with while his teammates played Villa.

Nice posted a picture of Todibo being in attendance for their game against Marseille – who enquired about signing him last week.

While Todibo was watching Nice beat Marseille 2-0, West Ham were playing out an impressive 1-1 draw at Aston Villa.

It’s easy to see why some Hammers fans are angry Todibo was watching his old club play against a club he’s been linked with instead of watching West Ham.

There may be a perfectly innocent explanation.

Todibo has been having some of the treatment for his injury over in his homeland.

Quite why that is nobody knows because West Ham are the only club in the Premier League who treat injury news like National Secrets.

Fans divided over Todibo being spotted at Nice vs Marseille

Although Potter is making players attend home games to try and forge a team and family mentality, that is not believed to extend to away games – where logistics make that more difficult.

Of course Todibo could have chosen to be at Villa Park off his own back.

But for whatever reason, he elected to go and watch Nice vs Marseille instead.

Given the links to Marseille and talk he wants out, perhaps that wasn’t the most sensible move.

That said it is entirely up to Todibo what he does with his free time.

They say there is no smoke without fire. Although the January transfer window often tests that theory to its limit.

Some Hammers supporters have suggested they would not be adverse to offloading the commitment to paying £32m for Todibo and spend the money elsewhere.

Others feel Todibo could come into his own under Potter.

Things should become a lot clearer over his future and intentions by Monday evening.

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