Chelsea Linked With Nice Midfield Star as £40m Tiemoue Bakayoko Struggles to Make Required Impact

Chelsea are the latest club being linked with Nice midfielder Jean-Michael Seri in a boost to add much needed depth to their squad ahead of a crunch second half of the season.

Seri was heavily linked with Barcelona last summer, while Manchester City, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain have all been mentioned as possible destinations for the Ivory Coast international at various points over the last few months.

Chelsea have signed Tiemoue Bakayoko, Danny Drinkwater and most recently Ross Barkley in midfield since the end of last season, but rumour has it manager Antonio Conte has been less than thrilled with the limited impact that Bakayoko has had since his £40m arrival.

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That is according to a claim from The Sun, who also report that Chelsea are now expected to 'test' Nice with an approach for Seri before the January window closes at the end of the month.

Despite the existing links with Barça and PSG, the tabloid further claims that the diminutive Seri, who comes with a £35m buyout clause, would prefer a move to England.

Relatively unknown until his performances last season helped Nice reach the Champions League qualifiers, Seri's career has some resemblance to that of Chelsea hero N'Golo Kante.

He joined Nice in 2015 from Pacos de Ferreira in Portugal for less than £1m. He had started his career at noted Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas, famous for producing Yaya and Kolo Toure, as well Salomon Kalou and Emmanuel Eboue, and got his first taste of Europe with Porto's reserves.