Jean Michaël Seri Is An Ivoirian Soccer Player: 10 Facts About Him

Jean Michaël Seri is an Ivorian professional football player who plays for both his country, Ivory Coast, and the English Football League Championship club, Fulham. Michaël plays as a central midfielder for both teams and has been active in professional sports from his youth days.

Seri was born in Grand-Bereby, Ivory Coast on the 19th of July 1991. Growing up in Abidjan he learned how to play football from there. In interviews, he recalls learning to play from the streets of his neighborhood until he got the attention of football scouts. His experience playing street football made him the skillful player he turned out to be.

Since the rise in his career, he has played for clubs such as Nice, Galatasaray, and Bordeaux.

Fascinating Facts About The Ivorian Player

1. The Athlete’s Football Journey

As earlier stated, the Ivorian began playing from his childhood. However, he joined the 2001-opened Ivorian football academy. He then began his youth career in July 2007 playing with the Abidjan club ‘Africa Sports d’Abidjan’.

It wasn’t until 2010 that his senior career kicked started as he joined ASEC Mimosas. This club was considered to be one of the most successful clubs in the Ivory Coast. Jean remained at Mimosas till 2013 and then moved to Porto on loan. From Porto, the Ivorian player transferred to Pacos de Ferreira where he played in 54 games until 2015.

By 11th June 2015, Seri joined Ligue 1 club Nice for a fee of 1 million Euros. He remained with the club for three years until he signed his Fulham deal in July of 2018. Jean’s deal with the Cottagers was for 4 years with an option of extension by a year. As a result, he is to be with the club until 2022 or 2023.

2. Why He Was Called ‘Galla’

Michaël Seri was nicknamed ‘Galla’ by close friends and family when he was younger. This nickname suited him because, at the time, the footballer tried to emulate Marcelo Gallardo. Marcelo was a former Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain midfielder whose skill seemed worth emulating by the Ivorian player.

3. He Won The Marc-Vivien Foe Award In 2017

Jean Michaël Seri won the Prix Marc-Vivien Foe for best African player in 2017. He won this award while still signed to Nice FC for his outstanding performances in the year.

Seri had the highest number of votes with 255 points and beat the runner-up, Ryad Boudebouz of Montpellier who had 126 points.

4. Jean Has Impeccable Qualities

He has been praised a lot of times for his impeccable qualities such as his state of mind and listening ability. Also, his prowess and skill when it comes to making passes on the field of play have been referred to as ‘one of the best recorded’.

These qualities possessed put the Fulham player places him in an enviable position and rank.

5. He Was An International Player From 2011

The Ivory Coast player began his international career in 2011 when he first made appearances with his country’s U-23 team in the 2011 CAF U-23 Championship. However, by February 2014, he got called up to join the senior team and was to participate in a friendly match against Belgium.

By the 6th of September 2015, he finally made his international debut with the Ivory Coast senior team when he played a qualifying match against Sierra Leone for the 2017 Afcon. However, his first senior international goal came in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.

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6. Since 2018, The Player Has Been A ‘Striker Of Interest’ To Many Clubs

Before finally joining the Cottagers, Jean Michaël was a ‘player of interest’ to so many clubs. He has been eyed by clubs such as Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona, Inter Milan, and even Everton. Although Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona’s desire for the player came before he made the move to Fulham FC.

By 2020, Inter Milan had their eyes on him and wished to sign him over to their club. He was to be an affordable option for the team if they were able to move out a player on loan. Also, he was on Everton’s ‘wanted’ list during the summer of the same year until they signed players Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure.

7. Jean Michaël Was Snubbed Because Of His Physicality

Despite being wanted by so many clubs, he was still snubbed and remained in Fulham. According to a claim by Gabriele Marcotti, a European football expert, Michaël Jean got snubbed because of his physical appearance.

The 5 feet 6 Inches player was ignored because most of the teams who eyed him were looking for players with bigger builds. Despite having amazing technical skills and abilities, his physicality, or actually the lack of it, proved a challenging factor to him getting signed by some of the clubs.

8. His Move To England Was Challenging

Talking about challenges the African player has encountered, it is worthy to note that his move to England wasn’t hitch-free. Michaël stated that upon his move to England, he encountered the challenge of his toenails growing inwardly into his flesh. This was as a result of the cold weather there and it caused him so much pain especially when he wore boots.

Seri compared his stay in England with when he played for Galatasaray and Bordeaux. He said the clime was relatively warmer in those areas and so he hadn’t such issues. However, he got around to finding a way to relieve himself of the England-inspired challenges.

9. Why Seri Fell Beneath Fans Expectations

33 year-old Jean Michaël Seri had a brilliant and amazing start to his career, however, the story soon changed. The Ivorian who was considered Fulham’s biggest club signing in 2018 began to disappoint both club and fans.

Barely a year after his signing, he moved to Galatasaray on loan and that was when fans began to be disappointed at the player who was once considered to be great. Seri moved from making almost accurate passes to being errant. Instead of being assertive as had always been, the player’s tackles fetched him bookings. Further talking about his pace on the field of play, it seemed like he became lazy.

In a defensive bid, Seri, while admitting to having fallen short, said he probably was weighed down by pressure. The Cottage fans heard a lot about him and his proposed move to Barcelona and expected a lot from him. This expectation led said fans to believe that he would help keep Fulham in the Premier League but unfortunately, he was unable to, hence their disappointment.

10. He Was Named Part Of The Ivorian Team To Represent At Afcon

The Grand-Bereby born player was named part of the Ivory Coast team players to represent the country at the Afcon 2021 games in Cameroon. He was named alongside midfielders such as Habib Maiga of Metz, Franck Kessie of AC Milan, and Maxwel Cornet of Burnely to name a few.

Complete profile of Jean Michaël Seri