Manchester United favourites to sign Ligue 1 midfielder

Manchester United are leading a four-team Premier League race to sign Nice midfielder Jean Seri, reports The Daily Mirror.

Seri was widely expected to join Barcelona in the summer but the La Liga giants had a change of heart towards the end of transfer talks.

The Ivory Coast international is now a Premier League target and United are battling for his signature along with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Jose Mourinho will need to sign at least one midfielder at the end of the season with Michael Carrick set to retire and may even need two if Marouane Fellaini does not sign a new deal.

Seri has 18 months left to run on his existing Nice deal but a €40m (£35m) release clause has put the Premier League giants on red alert to his signature.

While United are the current favourites, it does by no means guarantee they will sign the 26-year-old as Liverpool may also need to bolster their midfield options with doubts over Emre Can and Jordan Henderson.

Injuries have limited Seri to just 15 appearances in Ligue 1 this season but only Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti (95.1) averages more passes per game than the Ivorian (87.1).

With that in mind, it’s worth investing in Seri on Football INDEX before his share price starts to rocket. He is currently trading at £1.68 a share but it’s already climbed 6.31% in the last 24 hours.