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Football

18th Jan 2018

Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola are both trying to sign the ‘New Iniesta’

Which Manchester giant will he choose?

Darragh Murphy

It’s like Alexis Sanchez all over again.

A tug-of-war is expected to take place across Manchester for the services of Jean Seri, the Nice midfielder who has earned comparisons with Andres Iniesta for his playmaking ability.

And if that doesn’t sound familiar to the still-ongoing transfer saga surrounding Sanchez, perhaps it will when you hear that Chelsea might also consider a late bid for the 26-year-old too.

Sanchez is expected to become a Manchester United player in the coming days but there is still plenty of negotiating to take place before Seri decides on his next destination.

Manchester City have already held discussions with the Ivory Coast international’s representatives, with the hope of signing him in the summer.

The Guardian’s Ed Aarons has reported that City’s noisy neighbours are not prepared to let Pep Guardiola add Seri to his squad without a fight, however.

United are apparently willing to match City’s offer for the midfielder, who has been at Nice for two seasons.

Many expected Seri to leave last summer, with the likes of Barcelona and Arsenal very interested, but he stayed put and continues to impress for the Ligue 1 outfit.

No concrete details have been made public in relation to the kind of fee that he would command but it’s understood that Nice would be willing to listen to offers in the range of £35 million.