Jean Michaël Seri (born 19 July 1991) is an Ivorian professional
footballer who plays as a
central midfielder for
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
club
Hull City and the
Ivory Coast national team.
Club career
Early career in the Ivory Coast
In his native Ivory Coast, the young Seri was nicknamed "Galla", because he tried to emulate the former
Monaco and
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder
Marcelo Gallardo
Marcelo Daniel Gallardo (; born 18 January 1976) is an Argentine football coach and former professional player who last managed River Plate. Gallardo began his career in the club's youth divisions, and made his debut in the Argentine Primera D ...
, whose technical skills he admired. Seri joined the Ivorian football academy that was opened in 2001 by the Ivorian footballer
Cyril Domoraud
Dépri Cyrille Léandre Domoraud (born 22 July 1971) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a defender. He also holds French nationality and spent most of his career in Western Europe. He played in 3 of the 5 top leagues in ...
. "Jean is gifted, intelligent and respectful," Domoraud said in retrospect. "In his young days, he was one step ahead of the others, thanks to his ball control."
Born in the south-western city of
Grand-Béréby
Grand-Béréby is a coastal town in south-western Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture and commune of San-Pédro Department in San-Pédro Region, Bas-Sassandra District.
Grand-Béréby is located where the Néro river enters the Atlantic. A un ...
, Seri began his career as a youth player with
Abidjan club
Africa Sports d'Abidjan in July 2007. The best clubs in Ivory Coast fought for his services. In January 2010, Seri started his career as a senior player by joining
ASEC Mimosas
The Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas, literally Mimosas Commerce Employees' Sporting Association, is an Côte d'Ivoire, Ivorian Association football, football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Mimosas A ...
, the most successful club in Ivorian football, where he needed just one season to prove himself and become one of the best players in the country. "He is a great listener, and his state of mind is impeccable," raved Sébastien Desabre, ASEC Mimosas's head coach from October 2010 to October 2012 when Seri was a senior player there, and that quality enabled Seri to make steady progress.
Porto
On 2 November 2012, Seri joined
Primeira Liga
The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...
club
Porto on loan, after impressing their scouts. However, there was no place for Seri in the club's first team. He was thus forced to play for the club's
reserve team, scoring once in 19
Segunda Liga matches in the first five months of 2013.
Paços de Ferreira
On 31 August 2013, two months after finishing his loan spell at Porto (the ''Dragões''), Seri joined another
Primeira Liga
The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...
club
Paços de Ferreira
Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km².
Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...
on a permanent basis and on a free transfer by signing a three-year deal. He debuted for the ''Pacenses'' on 14 September 2013 against
Benfica in a
Primeira Liga
The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...
3–1 away loss. On 2 March 2014, he scored a goal in the 54th minute to register his first competitive goal for Paços de Ferreira in a 3–1 Primeira Liga home win over
Marítimo to send his side away from the relegation zone. It was at Paços de Ferreira where Seri's magnificent range of passing and ability to dictate the tempo of the game made him a fans' favourite. The club finished in eighth place in the
2014–15 Primeira Liga
The 2014–15 Primeira Liga (also known as Liga NOS for sponsorship reasons) was the 81st season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. It began on 15 August 2014 and concluded on 23 May 2015.
...
, and
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
club
Nice were quick to sign Seri before bigger clubs took notice.
Nice

On 11 June 2015, Seri officially joined
Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
club
Nice for a transfer fee of €1 million.
On 27 May 2015, prior to the opening of the transfer window, the club had announced the "very likely" arrival of Seri. On 8 August 2015, Seri made his competitive debut for Nice in their opening match of the
2015–16 Ligue 1
The 2015–16 Ligue 1 season was the 78th season of the Ligue de Football Professionnel first division since its establishment. It started on 7 August 2015 and concluded on 14 May 2016. Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain were the defen ...
season, playing the entire match in the 2–1 home loss to
Monaco. On 27 September 2015, he scored in the 53rd minute to register his first competitive goal for Nice in a 4–1 Ligue 1 away win over
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Saint-Étienne is the t ...
.
Fulham
In July 2018, Seri joined
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
on a four-year deal until 2022 with an option for Fulham to extend the contract by a further year.
Seri scored his first goal for his new club on 26 August, opening the scoring against
Burnley with a spectacular strike from outside the area. Seri picked the ball up and took one touch around an oncoming defender before curling in a long-range effort into the top corner of
Joe Hart's net and the goal was awarded with the
Premier League Goal of the Month for August.
Loan to Galatasaray
On 18 July 2019, Seri joined
Galatasaray on a season-long loan deal, with an option to buy. Eventually, he would leave Galatasaray and return to Fulham at the end of the season.
Loan to Bordeaux
On 30 January 2021, Seri joined Ligue 1 club
Bordeaux on loan until the end of the
season.
Return to Fulham
Following his return from his loan spell at
Bordeaux, Seri began playing again for
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
starting his first match for the club for the season against
Huddersfield Town, which saw Fulham win 5–1 in the
Championship on 14 August 2021. On 2 May 2022, Seri both featured and scored in a 7–0 victory over
Luton Town, this victory securing the Championship title for Fulham. Despite promotion back to the Premier League, it was announced that Seri would be leaving the club at the end of his contract in June 2022.
Hull City
On 8 July 2022, Seri returned to the Championship to join
Hull City on a three-year contract. Seri made his debut on 30 July 2022 in the home match against
Bristol City and scored the winning goal in extra time.
International career
Seri made a total of three appearances for the
Ivory Coast under-23 team, all of them at the
2011 CAF U-23 Championship
The 2011 African U-23 Championship was the first edition of the football tournament for players under 23 years. It was originally scheduled to be hosted by Egypt from 26 November to 10 December 2011. However, less than two months prior to the sta ...
held in Morocco, playing every minute of all their three Group B matches against South Africa, Egypt and Gabon. Ivory Coast finished third in Group B and thus did not qualify for the semifinals.
On 27 February 2014, Seri received his first senior international call up for the
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
in an upcoming
friendly match against
Belgium; he was an unused substitute in ''The Elephants 2–2 away draw (held on 5 March 2014) against Belgium. On 6 September 2015, Seri made his senior international debut in a
2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against
Sierra Leone, playing the entire match in the 0–0 away draw. Seri played two of Ivory Coast's three
2017 Africa Cup of Nations
The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...
Group C matches. They finished third in Group C and thus did not qualify for the quarterfinals. On 17 November 2015, Seri scored a goal in the 64th minute of the
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...
second round second leg 3–0 home win over
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
to register his first senior international goal.
Personal life
Seri is a devout
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first.''
Honours
Galatasaray
*
Turkish Super Cup:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
Fulham
*
EFL Championship
The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...
:
2021–22
Individual
*
UNFP Ligue 1
Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...
Team of the Year:
2016–17
*
Prix Marc-Vivien Foé
The Prix Marc-Vivien Foé is an award in an honour to the late Marc-Vivien Foé
Marc-Vivien Foé (1 May 1975 – 26 June 2003) was a Cameroonian professional footballer, who played as a defensive midfielder for both club and country.
Having ini ...
: 2017
*
OGC Nice
Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...
Player of the Year: 2017
*
Premier League Goal of the Month: August 2018
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seri, Jean Michael
1991 births
Living people
People from Bas-Sassandra District
Ivorian footballers
Ivory Coast international footballers
Association football midfielders
ASEC Mimosas players
FC Porto B players
F.C. Paços de Ferreira players
OGC Nice players
Fulham F.C. players
Galatasaray S.K. footballers
FC Girondins de Bordeaux players
Hull City A.F.C. players
Primeira Liga players
Liga Portugal 2 players
Ligue 1 players
Premier League players
Süper Lig players
2017 Africa Cup of Nations players
2019 Africa Cup of Nations players
2021 Africa Cup of Nations players
Ivorian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in England
Expatriate footballers in France
Expatriate footballers in Portugal
Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England
Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France
Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Ivorian Christians