The agent of Jean-Michael Seri has explained that Arsenal’s dithering in the transfer market was part of the reason his player didn’t sign for the club last summer.

Arsene Wenger was a known admirer of the player, and, while he continues to be linked with a move to Arsenal, it’s not clear yet if Unai Emery et al still want to bring him in.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sport Witness, Seri’s agent (whom they don’t name), said, “Unfortunately, Arsenal aren’t the quickest when it comes to the transfer market.

“It’s true that I met [Wenger], we spoke about it, he said it could interest him. He would have liked there to be more departures in his midfield, because he was aware of the balance of his budget.

“When I got the offer from Barcelona, I let him know about it, but that doesn’t mean they entered the fray. Unfortunately it didn’t happen with Barcelona because of an ego problem between them and Nice.”

Earlier this week, the Daily Mail reported that the club are still targeting a move for the Nice midfielder this summer.

Emery reportedly tried to sign the player for Paris Saint-Germain in January, and will now try to bring him to Arsenal instead. Seri reportedly had a clause in his contract allowing him to leave his current club for €40m but it seems like this clause expires every summer after July 15th.

According to Sky Sports, Arsenal recently got in touch with Seri’s camp to get discussions started.

Arsenal’s new director of football, Raul Sanllehi, reportedly formed a close relationship with the Ivorian last year when he tried to sign him for the Catalans.

Nice are ready to let Seri, Mario Balotelli, and Alassane Plea leave with L’Equipe also reporting that Arsenal are still interested in Seri who is out of contract next summer.