Speaking to French television station Canal Plus on Sunday, Jean-Pierre Rivere, The president of Nice Jean-Pierre Rivere said he received a phone call from Nice’s director general on Wednesday, August 23 to tell him that Barcelona was pulling the plug on Seri transfer.
He added: “In the afternoon, Josep Bartomeu , sounding a bit embarrassed, says to me: “Jean-Pierre, this is the first time this has happened to us, our technical staff have decided not to sign Seri. It is absolutely not a problem with money.”
The Ivory Coast international midfielder had a contract ready with Barcelona, Rivere added, with French press reports saying Nice stood to make up to 40 million euros.
That figure corresponded to the amount of a release clause written into his contract.
Jean-Pierre Rivère s'explique sur le cas #Seri : "J'ai dit au Barça : 'vous m'avez fichu un joueur en l'air" #CFC pic.twitter.com/jCCh1Nb0lg
— Canal Football Club (@CanalFootClub) September 3, 2017