I feel very bad," Seri, who sat out Nice's 3-0 loss to Amiens at the weekend, told the Catalan newspaper. "I'm not going to lie to you, I'm really hurt. For me, football has always been a party, a source of joy."I didn't play with Nice this weekend because I didn't have my head on football. My dream to go to Barca has been broken, and that -- for me -- is terrible.
"The conversations between the two clubs went from bad to worse. As far as I can tell, I've not left Nice due to financial reasons.
"After the [Champions League playoff against Napoli] I met with Barcelona's directors for more than an hour and they didn't tell me anything about not going through with signing me. I went home really happy; then the next day I read the news. I was stunned.
"I went to the Nice offices to see the board and find out what happened. I exploded! The walls shook. They didn't say anything to me, they didn't look me straight in the eye. They had promised me one thing, but didn't keep their word and asked for more money."
Seri said his agent had received a five-year contract offer from Barcelona, and rejected the suggestion the Catalan club had pulled out of the deal because of his below-par performance in Nice's loss to Napoli.
"Do you think it's true Barca would pay 30m for a player they don't know?" Seri asked.
The player's agent, Franklin Mala, claimed last week that Paris Saint-Germain had called Nice and offered to pay more than €40m "to screw Barca over."
Seri, who was also linked with a move to Anfield earlier in the summer, said he would be open to joining PSG, Liverpool or another of the European giants, although he still hopes he could make a move to the Camp Nou.
"I want to be optimistic and think there are still options, that the clubs will sit down and talk calmly again and reach an agreement. We're not just talking about any club where you go just for money. I want to join one of the big European clubs, like Juventus, PSG, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool...
"For example, Roma have made several offers. I have spoken many times to Monchi, but the transfer didn't happen for financial reasons. Monchi got tired of the Nice board! Roma is a good option, but nothing like Barca!"
― Number None, Monday, 28 August 2017 12:52 (six years ago) link