Arsenal are among the top clubs in the running to sign Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri during the summer transfer window.
The Ivory Coast international has stood out in the heart of the midfield for Nice this term after former teammate Nampalys Mendy made his way to Leicester City last summer.
Seri, 25, has been key to the Ligue 1 club’s push for the French title, but it appears that they will fall short with Monaco holding a six-point gap with a superior goal difference at the top.
Nice have managed to better their fourth-placed finish from last season, and Seri has earned some of the plaudits as his performances have guaranteed his side a place in next season’s Champions League.
According to The Guardian, the player’s representative is understood to have travelled to the English capital last week in order to hold initial talks with the Gunners as well as their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Seri currently has £33m release clause in his contract due to expire in 2019, but Nice are nevertheless said to demand a fee of around £20m with Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona also in the hunt for the anchorman.
The former Pacos de Ferreira is understood to want regular football at his future club, and this is something which is not a guarantee at the Emirates owing to their verse options in the centre of the park.
“There are a lot of clubs that follow me. But there is nothing done,” Seri is quoted as saying on The Guardian.
“If I leave, it will be to join a club where there is a real desire to play football as in Nice.
“And I’m not going to be on the bench, I’m leaving only if I know I’m going to play”
Granit Xhaka, Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have shared the midfield duties in recent weeks, while the likes of Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny could be called upon when needed.
The only thing in the Gunners favour could be the contractual status of their central midfielders with Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, and injured duo Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere all approaching the final year of their existing deals.
