BARCELONA
Barcelona u-turn on Seri as focus on Di Maria, Coutinho, Dembélé
A surprising twist has broken on Wednesday morning in the Catalan press with reports that the perceived done deal with Nice's Seri will now not be happening.
Jean Michael Seri will not play for Barcelona this year. This is according to reports on Wednesday morning making the front page of Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo.
Hey Seri, Barça have changed their mind
Just when the deal for the Ivorian had appeared to be closed on Tuesday, with an announcement expected imminently, a decision was made late in the evening not to finalise the deal. The reports state that this was not due to any financial challenges - both player and his club Nice had agreed to the deal - but purely down to footballing reasons. It was a decision made by the coaching team at Barcelona. Their desire now is to put all efforts into capturing those players they deem crucial to the short and medium-term future of the club, namely Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho (despite previous bids being rejected and deadline bluffs called) and Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembélé.
Seri says he's not finished at Nice
Nice will not play in the 2017/18 Champions League group stages after being knocked out at the playoff round by Napoli on Tuesday. Following the match Seri stated that, "this will not be my last game for Nice. I will be in Amiens on Saturday for the next Ligue 1 match".
Barcelona looking at all options
Across the Catalan press there is talk of Barcelona having "aces up their sleeve" with Seri remaining a back-up option while Sport are stating that the club are negotiating with PSG's Angel Di Maria, although nothing has yet been announced.
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