With Monaco having sold many of their title-winning youngsters already this summer for incredible sums, it is looking more and more unlikely that Arsenal will be able to persuade them to part with Thomas Lemar, and if they did it would be for a giantly inflated transfer fee. The only way I can see this happening at all is if we offered Alexis Sanchez in a swap deal and that is even more unlikely!
But meanwhile, just a little way along the Mediterranean coast from Monaco, is Nice’s Jean Seri, who is probably much more talented and will come cheaper than Lemar. And if you want to get a recommendation for a midfielder let us listen to what Barcelona’s Xavi had to say about him. “When I was told that a Nice player was nicknamed the ‘African Xavi’, I followed him very closely,”
“I watched matches and a ton of videos. I didn’t know him and I was spellbound: I’m not used to seeing such a talent in midfield.
“Short passing, long passing, tactical intelligence, distance shooting, personality, organising play, that last magic pass… ‘madre mia!’
“He would do very well at Barca! He can play anywhere in the middle. Seri is fantastic. I can say, without hesitation, that he has what we call ‘Barca DNA’.”
Here is the original interview that Xavi had with Eurosport:
Le nom du joueur de Nice, Jean-Michaël Seri, revient parfois aussi pour renforcer l’entre jeu. Le connaissez-vous? On l’a même comparé avec… Xavi !Xavi : Quand on m’a dit qu’un joueur de Nice était surnommé le “Xavi Africain”, je l’ai suivi de très près. J’ai regardé des matches et une tonne de vidéos. Je ne le connaissais pas… et j’ai halluciné : je n’étais plus habitué à voir un tel talent au milieu de terrain. Jeu court, jeu long, intelligence tactique, tir de loin, personnalité, organisation du jeu, dernière passe magique… “madre mia”! il irait tellement bien au Barça ! Il peut jouer partout au milieu. Seri est fantastique. Il a ce que l’on appelle à Barcelone l'”ADN Barça”. Sans aucune hésitation.
Now if Xavi himself says that, then surely Arsene Wenger should pay attention and get the Ivorian at the Emirates as soon as possible!
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