Barcelona pulled out of transfer of Liverpool target at last minute

Nice president Jean-Pierre Rivere says Barcelona pulled the plug on their bid to sign Jean Michael Seri at the last minute.

Seri, who was believed to be a target for Jurgen Klopp this summer, looked all set for a €40million transfer to La Liga, before the deal fell through with Barca blaming the Ligue 1 side for demanding more money.

Rivere though has hit back at Barca, laying the blame in Barca’s court and accused them of “messing up” the midfielder.

“On Wednesday morning, Julien Fournier [Nice’s managing director] called me early, at 9, and said, ‘Jean-Pierre, I don’t understand. I just got a call from Barcelona, they told me they’re stopping with Micka [Seri],” Rivere told Canal+.

“In the afternoon, I got hold of [Barca president] Josep Bartomeu, a little embarrassed, who told me: ‘Jean-Pierre, it’s the first time that this has happened to us, but our technical staff have decided not to do Micka Seri. It’s absolutely not a problem of money.’

“On the Thursday morning, it was confirmed definitively: they won’t be going for Micka Seri.

“And it’s then that things go off. I said to Barca, ‘You have messed up one of my players,’ because there was a contract ready. I put myself in the place of Micka: it’s his dream to go to Barca, and overnight it’s broken.”

Seri, who amassed a combined 16 goals and assists in 34 league appearances last term, did not play in his club’s final league game before the international break due to his disappointment over his proposed transfer not going through.

The Ivory Coast midfielder was also believed to be a target for Tottenham and Arsenal, but was heavily linked with Liverpool before they agreed a move for Naby Keita from Leipzig next summer.