Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri is not happy with the collapse of his move to Barcelona, telling El Mundo Deportivo he “exploded” with rage after his club bosses caused the collapse.
Barca was ready to trigger the reported €40 million buyout clause in Seri’s contract. Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere said, back in May, that “If a club offers €40m for Jean Michael tomorrow, he will leave.”
In a turn of events, Nice general manager Julien Fournier said last week that they “haven’t set a price for Seri” and the player has accused club bosses of breaking their word and demanding more money.
“I feel very bad,” Seri told the Catalan newspaper.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I’m really hurt. For me, football has always been a party, a source of joy.
“I didn’t play with Nice this weekend because I didn’t have my head on football. My dream to go to Barca has been broken, and that — for me — is terrible.
“The conversations between the two clubs went from bad to worse. As far as I can tell, I’ve not left Nice due to financial reasons.
“After the [Champions League playoff against Napoli] I met with Barcelona’s directors for more than an hour and they didn’t tell me anything about not going through with signing me. I went home really happy; then the next day I read the news. I was stunned.
“I went to the Nice offices to see the board and find out what happened. I exploded! The walls shook. They didn’t say anything to me, they didn’t look me straight in the eye. They had promised me one thing, but didn’t keep their word and asked for more money.”
While Seri still hopes the move can happen, he said that he would be open to joining PSG, Liverpool or another of the European giants.
“I want to be optimistic and think there are still options, that the clubs will sit down and talk calmly again and reach an agreement. We’re not just talking about any club where you go just for money. I want to join one of the big European clubs, like Juventus, PSG, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool…
“For example, Roma have made several offers. I have spoken many times to Monchi, but the transfer didn’t happen for financial reasons. Monchi got tired of the Nice board! Roma is a good option, but nothing like Barca!”
