Manchester United told Nice's Jean-Clair Todibo transfer stance

Nice sporting director Florent Ghisolfi is adamant Manchester United-linked Jean-Clair Todibo will not be allowed to leave the Ligue 1 club easily this month.

United have been linked with Todibo since the summer when Erik ten Hag was searching for defensive reinforcements. Attempts to buy Todibo stalled with the Reds were unable to offload Harry Maguire.

The Reds' former captain looked destined to join West Ham but the move didn't materialise and the England international has since had something of an Old Trafford renaissance. It remains to be seen whether United will continue to pursue the centre-back amid Sir Jim Ratcliffe's minority acquisition of shares at United given his involvement in Nice.

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The INEOS founder is the primary owner of Nice and it is understood any such move to sell off one of the club's top assets to Ratcliffe's new club could infuriate the French side. It must be stressed at this stage there is no indication whether the British billionaire would allow United to buy one of his other club's players or not.

In an interview with Get Football News France's Luke Entwistle, Nice chief Ghisolfi sent a strong message to United and any other side interested in signing Tobido, or the highly-rated Khephren Thuram.

"We want to have stability, and stability is keeping your best players," he explained. "Jean-Clair and Khephren Thuram are definitely that. We absolutely want to keep them."

Reports in recent weeks have suggested Todibo wants to wait until the summer to make his next move. The 24-year-old is thought to be fearful of moving in January with the European Championships around the