Barcelona Transfer News: Jean Michael Seri Rules out Winter Move, Latest Rumours

Barcelona target Jean Michael Seri has ruled out a departure from OGC Nice in the January transfer window.

The Ivorian central midfielder—who was close to a €40 million (£35.2 million) switch to Barca last month—left the door open to a move next summer but insisted he would see out all of the 2017-18 season with Nice, per Joe Wright of Goal:

"A high-level player doesn't have a minute to lose with this sort of thing. It's over, we have to turn the page and face the important moments to come with my club. I will not leave Nice until June. It doesn't matter what club wants to buy me in the winter."

Wright added Seri's move to the Camp Nou collapsed late in the recent transfer window, with Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere blaming Barcelona and the player himself accusing the Ligue 1 outfit of not allowing him to leave. 

Seri had made it clear he wanted to move on, per Mundo Deportivo:

According to Martin Domin in the Mirror, reports in Spain suggested Barcelona were set to return for the 26-year-old—who was also linked with Arsenal and Liverpool—in January instead of trying again to sign Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho.

But the 26-year-old's comments will come as a blow for Barcelona.

It is little surprise the club is interested in the Ivory Coast international as he could be an ideal fit at the Catalan giants.

A strong presence in the middle of the park and more than capable of scoring and assisting in attack, Seri is also a metronomic passer who can control the tempo of a game, per WhoScored.com:

Barca are not short on central midfielders in their squad, but few are consistently impressive.

New manager Ernesto Valverde has preferred a central core of Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta so far this season, all three of whom are high-quality players.

However, 33-year-old Iniesta is in the latter stages of his sparkling career, and his future at Barca remains uncertain as he has yet to pen a new contract, per El Pais (via Sam Marsden on ESPN.co.uk).  

Meanwhile, Arda Turan and Andre Gomes have both disappointed since moving to the Camp Nou—respectively from Atletico Madrid in 2015 and Valencia in 2016—and Sergi Samper has been sent out on loan to Las Palmas.

Seri would add necessary quality and competition to the Barca squad, but it looks as though the Blaugrana will have to wait until next summer to get their man.