Premier League Target Jean Michael Seri Would Be Well Worth £35 Million-Plus

"He has a release clause of €40 million," Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere said to RMC (article in French) back in May. "Everyone laughed when we put that clause in, two years ago." Nobody's laughing now. Jean Michael Seri spent last term, his sophomore season at Nice, pretty much under the radar outside France despite shining as one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1, firing the unlikely title charge of Lucien Favre's side.

Now, with the new campaign on the horizon in France, he is finally getting a modicum of the recognition he deserves, but through a very modern prism. He is gaining recognition from his rising profile in the transfer gossip columns rather than from people who have witnessed the Ivory Coast international's undeniable quality on the field.

Arsenal have emerged as a possible destination for Seri, as noted by the Guardian's Nick Ames in the newspaper's rumour mill last week. Roma and Paris Saint-Germain had been strongly linked with the midfielder earlier in the summer, and even Barcelona had him on their list as possible back-up in case they were unable to push through a deal for PSG's Marco Verratti, per Le10Sport (in French).

Yet while the Serie A side came as far as agreeing terms with the player, per journalist Matt Spiro, they couldn't or wouldn't match Nice's, and Rivere's, asking price.

Roma's opening offer of €15 million, as reported by L'Equipe (in French) in June, suggests that even some of Seri's suitors perhaps don't have a handle on just how good, and how valuable, he is. Even if the capital club's new sporting director Monchi came back with a bigger offer, in vain, the advent of Premier League interest changes the tone.

If the Gunners mean business—and why wouldn't they?—closing the deal should be straightforward. Rivere was unequivocal when speaking to RMC in May. "Even if we don't take clauses seriously in France," he said (the league doesn't allow them to be included in contracts but they can be signed, and observed, as a legal add-on), "they still have to be respected. If tomorrow, a club bids €40 million for Jean Michael, he'll go."

That would represent good value in the current market and certainly in the context of the hyperinflated world of transfers to England. Since arriving on the Cote d'Azur as an unknown from Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira in 2015, Seri has been sensational. He was expected to be peripheral in his first season under Claude Puel but instead took part in every match in Ligue 1, starting 35 times. Last season, he developed even further after Lucien Favre took the helm.

Seri is a player who rarely gives the ball away, landing 89.5 percent of his passes last season, per WhoScored.com, which is more notable still when one considers some of the passes he makes. Seri isn't a holding player but a box-to-box one who attempts to create goals—only Monaco's coveted Thomas Lemar had more assists in Ligue 1 last season—as well as covering a lot of ground with great energy in the times between. Seri even chipped in with seven goals last season, including this one in the win over Lyon (via Ligue 1's official YouTube channel).

That the whole move has been displayed in the video helps to illustrate Seri's involvement in everything Nice do. At the beginning of the move, he picks up the ball in his own half and brings it into Lyon's. Then, getting it back, he sweeps a perfect crossfield pass to Dalbert, advancing from left-back. Finally, he mops up with a tidy finish from the edge of the area after Younes Belhanda hits his effort against the post. In short, Seri is everywhere.

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He might have dropped from the sky into the Allianz Riviera as far as most of the locals were concerned, but a select few already knew how good he was. Paulo Fonseca came into contact with Seri when he arrived at Porto as coach, some six months after the Ivorian was integrated into the club's B team after leaving Africa in January 2013. Having impressed Fonseca, Seri later joined up with him at Pacos de Ferreira after Porto fired him.

Seri's contribution over 18 months at the Portuguese minnows was a significant one. After helping them to avoid relegation in his first half-season, Pacos got into a respectable eighth place in 2014/15. Fonseca had no doubt how responsible Seri was, or how far he would go.

Speaking to Mais Futebol (in Portuguese) in an interview in May 2015, shortly before Seri went to France, Fonseca said:

"Seri is a player for another level, frankly. In terms of making the play, he's one of the best players in the league. He's not a No. 6 (i.e. defensive midfielder). He can't be reduced to defensive or offensive, but in the first phase of building play up, he's decisive. He's the bravest player in our squad, even in difficult moments. He grabs the game, comes looking for the ball, and gives the team the signal of what to do. He's fantastic."

This wide palette of skills is the main reason why Roma were so keen. Some pitched him as a replacement for Radja Nainggolan, but the club always intended to keep the Belgian (who has since signed a new deal, of course), and Seri's versatility suggested the pair could co-exist. The way in which he has started the nascent season, with Nice competing in Champions League qualifiers, has reminded us of this.

Seri racked up his first assist of the season in the third qualifying round first leg against Ajax, and he again underlined his craft and quick thinking. As the ball came to him outside the box, Seri shaped to shoot, then brought it down, dribbled to the touchline like a winger and, after waiting for the perfect moment, played the perfect pass for Mario Balotelli to tap home.

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If Seri goes, as seems more and more likely, Balotelli, for one, will miss him, but he's not the only one. That Nice appear to be weighing up Samir Nasri—with football.london (via the Mirror), hypothesising any move by the ex-Arsenal man could tee up his old team getting Seri—and Wesley Sneijder, per Voetbal International (h/t Football-Oranje), as possible replacements shows just how much he is valued.

With all due respect to Nasri and Sneijder, either of them would struggle to replace Seri directly, and only partly due to the Ivorian's athleticism and energy. If Arsenal emerge as winners of the race, they'll have done well to steal a march on possible rivals—it's hard to believe that Liverpool, for example, wouldn't push for him given their struggles in signing up Leipzig's Naby Keita, another notable all-rounder.

Seri deserves his moment, having reached the age of 26 and having fought his way to his present status. Now more than ever, he's ready.