Even if Nice’s Jean Seri is publicly stating he would like to renew his contract with the Ligue 1 club, that hasn’t stopped rumours of a move to the Premier League circulating.
Leicester, Everton and Southampton have been linked with the polyvalent midfielder, but with none of the three playing European football next season, the clubs would have to convince the player their club is a better place than the south of France for the foreseeable future.
With Nice qualifying for the European competition for the first time in 57 years, it’s possible Seri could favour a Ligue 1 stay, at least for an extra season.
Interviewed by Onze Mondial this month, the 25-year-old was questioned at length about all of the interest in his services this season, with the midfielder drawing a conclusion to the whole thing by explaining what he really wants from a move away from Nice.
He said: “You know, it depends on a lot of things. There’s no point leaving just for the sake of it. If I leave, it’ll be for a club where there is a real want to play football like at Nice, and I won’t be leaving to sit on the bench. I’ll only leave if I know I will get to play.”
Looking at how Nice have been playing under Lucien Favre this season, two of the three interested club stand out.
While the Foxes have found some success under Craig Shakespeare since the departure of Claudio Ranieri, their two man midfield is already pretty packed, what with Wilfried Ndidi, Nampalys Mendy, Danny Drinkwater and Andy King fighting for two spots.
Considering Southampton currently have Claude Puel in charge, the man who bought Jean Seri from Estoril in Portugal to Nice in the first place, you could think they have the best chance of landing the 25-year-old.
However, the way Ronald Koeman has his Everton players moving the football around, and linked with another versatile midfielder in Youri Tielemans, our gut feeling would be Everton being top of Seri’s potential destination list if he had to choose between the three.
That, and the fact they are currently the better placed team in the Premier League out of the three, with an ambitious project underway at Goodison Park.
Would he start every week ahead of the likes of Idrissa Gueye, Morgan Schneiderlin or Tom Davies, though?
