Tottenham have slipped behind Roma and Paris Saint-Germain in the race to sign Nice kingpin Jean Michael Seri, according to a reliable journalist.
Guardian Sport’s deputy news editor Ed Aarons has claimed on his personal Twitter account that Serie A outfit Roma and French big guns PSG are in a straight shoot-out to land the dynamic central midfielder.
Aarons reports that there has been “no firm offers” from Spurs or their north London neighbour Arsenal for Seri after both clubs reportedly held talks about prising him from the south of France outfit.
Looks like it’s between Roma and PSG for Jean Seri. no firm offers from either Arsenal or Spurs
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) June 15, 2017
Mohamed Bouhafsi, the chief football editor at RMC Sport and BFMTV, claimed on Twitter earlier this week that Spurs had made contact with the representatives of the Ivory Coast international in a bid to smooth the way for a possible deal.
Tottenham have made initial contact with the entourage of Nice midfielder Jean Michaël Seri. #COYS
— Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) June 12, 2017
This comes after the Guardian reported that Tottenham had opened preliminary talks with the agent of Seri in London about prising him from Nice this summer.
It is said that Seri has a £33million release clause in his Nice contract but the Ligue 1 club would be willing to accept a fee of £20million for him in the current window.
Seri has a growing reputation as a result of his exploits for the team who mounted a shock challenge for the French title last season only to eventually finish in third and 17 points behind champions Monaco.
The Ivory Coast international scored seven goals and supplied nine assists in 34 league matches in 2017-18, outstanding statistics for a central midfielder.