Barcelona are closing in on the signing of Nice star Seri as they look to reinvest the £200million from Neymar’s move to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Spanish giants are being frustrated by Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund for Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele respectively and have now turned to Seri.

Reports say Barca will activate a £36.6m (€40m) release clause in Seri’s contract although there have been counter-claims such a buy-out deal has expired.

But Spanish website Don Balon say Seri will wear the colours of Barcelona this season.

And they claim that the 26-year-old actually would prefer to join Real Madrid rather than Barca.

Seri is an Ivory Coast international but came to prominence in Ligue 1 with Nice and was keen to play under France legend Zinedine Zidane at the Bernabeu.

Don Balon add Seri even informed Zidane of his desire to join him in Madrid.

But Zidane ruled out any move because Real Madrid have a number of central midfielders in their squad already and due to concerns over his ability to compete at the highest level.

Seri is supposedly a Barcelona fan though, with quotes made during an interview with beIN Sports two years ago resurfacing.

“Since I was a child I dreamt about Barca,” he said. “I am a fan of Barca.

“Because theirs is a style of football that I like. Lots of players like a team that plays football, so Barca is my team.

“Aside from that, you never know what is going to happen in life. God might have decided otherwise. I don’t know, but I will do everything to reach that level.”

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