Back in January, ESPN revealed that Southampton and Watford were interested in signing Barcelona's Jean-Clair Todibo, while Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan also expressed a desire to sign the centre-back.
Eventually, the Spanish champions struck a deal with Schalke that would see Todibo join the Bundesliga side on loan for a €1.5m (£1.25m) fee, while they also have an option to buy the defender for €25m (£20.83m).
Since he made the move to the Veltins Arena, the 20-year-old has played just 116 minutes in the Bundesliga, although he has fared impressively in that time while performing like a player who presumably would've been a welcome addition to Ralph Hasenhuttl's squad.
Across those 116 minutes, the former Toulouse man has registered an impressive nine clearances and 110 passes - the latter stat working out at an average of 0.95 passes per minute.
Additionally, he has made four tackles and six interceptions in that time, while also conceding just one goal.
In the 1-1 draw against Paderborn, he earned a WhoScored match rating of 7.17, while he was handed a slightly better rating of 7.36 for his efforts in the 0-0 draw against Mainz 05.
When added together, it means that Todibo's efforts across both games saw him come out with a combined 14.53 rating out of a possible 20, which is quite respectable given his age and the fact that he had only just arrived in a new country - he had exclusively played in France and Spain before the January switch.
It is undeniable that the Frenchman has made a solid start, and what is also without question is Southampton's lack of quality depth in the centre-back department.
After Maya Yoshida was let go, Hasenhuttl has been left with only Jannik Vestergaard to provide backup to Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek - since the transfer window ended, the towering Dane has made two appearances coming against Tottenham and Burnley, both of which have ended in defeat and have also been met with criticism from the Southampton fans on Twitter.
Given the circumstances at St Mary's, coupled with Todibo's impressive start, it looks like the centre-back would've been a welcome addition for the Saints last month.
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