Midfielder Seri tight lipped over Barcelona move

Nice midfielder Jean-Michael Seri was staying coy on talk of a big-money move to Barcelona amid reports he has already reached agreement on the terms of a contract with the Spanish giant. The 26-year-old Ivory Coast international played for Nice in their 2-0 defeat to Napoli on Tuesday that saw them miss out on a place in the Champions League group stage as they lost their play-off tie 4-0 on aggregate.

Barcelona are closing in on Nice's Jean Michael Seri with personal terms already agreed, reports @ed_aarons pic.twitter.com/3YUIYTBvfR

— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 20, 2017

"No it was not my last match for Nice. I will be at Amiens on Saturday," said Seri, who sports daily L'Equipe reported had agreed a four-year deal with Barca over the weekend. A transfer for up to 40m euros ($47m, £36.7m) has been mooted as the Catalan desperately look to strengthen their squad with the proceeds of Neymar's world record 222m-euro move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Jean Michael Seri: Has completed 213 passes in just two Ligue 1 appearances this season. Barcelona material pic.twitter.com/aC56WfcRag — WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) August 22, 2017

But Nice have reportedly been reluctant to negotiate so far and Seri added: "I don't know much about it. I said to everyone to leave me to concentrate on the Champions League and that after we would see if I stayed or went." Seri joined Nice in 2015 from the Portuguese club Pacos de Ferreira and has been outstanding in the last two seasons as the French side have finished fourth and then third in Ligue 1.