Despite being at fault for Marseille’s second goal against OGC Nice on Sunday, Jean-Michaël Seri has still had an incredible season for the Ligue 1 side, to the extent where he could end up moving elsewhere in the summer.
With six goals and nine assists in 37 appearances for the French club this season, the 25-year-old has shown he is a very talented and well-rounded midfielder, and that is why Nice are expected to ask €40m for his services in the upcoming transfer window.
While release clauses are forbidden in France, Sportmania in Ivory Coast report the club and the player’s representative have agreed that €40m is the price teams such as Everton and Southampton would have to pay Nice to convince them.
Bought for £850k two seasons ago from Paços de Ferreira, selling Seri would allow Nice to make a huge profit in a short amount of time, also allowing him to further his career elsewhere and continue to develop.
However, the fee could put off more than one interested club, even if £33.6m tends to be an average price in the transfer market these days, especially for a player capable of both scoring and assisting from deep.
Whether Ronald Koeman or Claude Puel decide to go all out for him remains to be seen, but €40m appears to be the recurring fee in reports these days.
It’s a lot, but it’s also probably worth it.