Jean Michael Seri makes key Fulham claims on Marco Silva, promotion and his main obligation | OneFootball

Jean Michael Seri feels he has a duty to pay Fulham back this season after enduring a disappointing start to his Craven Cottage career, speaking in an interview with The Sun.

The 30-year-old first arrived at the club back in July 2018 after previously being linked with more established top-tier sides including Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool, joining the Cottagers’ on a four-year deal.

Unfortunately, he was unable to guide the west London outfit to Premier League safety during the 2018/19 campaign despite making 32 top-tier appearances, then being shipped out to Turkish Super Lig outfit Galatasaray the following season.

Quiz: Has Aleksandar Mitrovic ever scored a goal for Fulham at each of these 26 stadiums?

Fulham’s promotion back to the top flight at the first time of asking looked set to boost the midfielder’s first-team chances in the English capital last term, but he wasn’t included in former manager Scott Parker’s plans and was forced to endure another temporary loan away from the club at the start of this year, joining Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux for the remainder of 2020/21.

However, the departure of 41-year-old Parker this summer proved to be the turning point in the Ivory Coast international’s career in England, re-establishing his status as one of the first names on the teamsheet under predecessor Marco Silva and recording an impressive six assists in 19 Championship matches so far this term.

A rejuvenated Seri now has his sights set on a Premier League return, singling out Silva for praise and also went on to state why he believes he owes a lot to his current side as he sat down with The Sun.

Speaking in this interview, the 30-year-old said: “Unfortunately things didn’t go as we all wanted.

“The club spent a lot of money for me and expected better from me.

“I didn’t give back something.. I must give the club something back for that investment so I’m glad to be doing so now.”

With his past firmly behind him, he will be hoping to keep Silva’s men on the right path as they currently sit top of the table, drawing their last two games but benefitting from AFC Bournemouth’s recent slip-ups.

West Bromwich Albion, who were also previously in the automatic promotion race, have now dropped down to fourth and with that, the west London side and the Cherries are now firm favourites to clinch the top-two spots.

And Seri believes it’s a matter of when, and not if they return to the top tier of English football.

“I’m here for the whole season. I want to celebrate when we get promoted. I want to enjoy this moment with the club”, he added.

“Fulham deserves it because they’ve spent a lot of money on me. They deserve to be in the Premier League for many years and I believe Marco is building something good.

“And I want to pay the club back.”

The Verdict:

Even those who aren’t Fulham supporters will be pleased to see Seri’s time at the club finally working out after enduring a disappointing three years previous to his transformation this summer.

Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa’s temporary departure may be a blow for the second-tier side, because the Cameroonian would have boosted their promotion hopes further, but seeing his 30-year-old teammate remain at the club has helped to provide the necessary quality and depth in midfield needed for his club to thrive this term.

Tom Cairney spent the early stages of the season out with a long-term injury, so to have the ex-Nice man at their disposal and in fine form was key to a reasonably successful start to their campaign.

And the fact he has managed to keep his starting spot in the middle of the park just shows how good he’s been, because the likes of Cairney, Harrison Reed, Nathaniel Chalobah and Josh Onomah can also play in his role.

There may be a need to rotate him at some stage in the season to keep him fresh, but as long as he’s a regular starter, you could definitely see him extending his stay at the current promotion favourites beyond next summer.