A deal had been agreed for the Ivorian with Nice but the Blaugrana will now look to increase bids for Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho
Barcelona have ended their interest in signing Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri, Goal can confirm.
The Blaugrana had come to a €40 million deal for the 26-year-old but are now set to go back in for primary targets Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho.
Despite agreeing a fee for the Ivory Coast international, there was a disagreement between Barcelona’s board and the club’s coaching staff as to his suitability, and as such they have opted to pull the plug on the move.
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They will now use the saved funds to increase their bids for Borussia Dortmund forward Dembele and Liverpool midfielder Coutinho, though the Reds will reject any further offers for the latter.
Seri, who has also been linked with Arsenal and Tottenham, scored seven goals and laid on nine assists in 34 Ligue 1 appearances last season, but he could not help Nice reach the Champions League group stage as they lost out to Napoli in the play-offs on Tuesday.
The U-turn marks another twist in an eventful summer for Barcelona who, despite spending €70m on Nelson Semedo and Paulinho, are still reeling from the world-record €222m sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.
They continue to face roadblocks in their pursuits of Dembele and Coutinho, and now have just eight days to bolster their squad ahead of the closure of the summer transfer window.