Biography
Midfield creator John Michael Seri joined Hull City in July 2022 after successfully helping Fulham gain promotion to the Premier League and a lengthy courtship that took Acun Illicali most of the summer to consummate. Seri was introduced immediately to the heart of the Tigers’ midfield and rewarded manager Shota Arveladze with an injury time winning goal in the opening match of the Championship season, however within a few weeks injury and a drop in form saw Mika used more regularly off the bench. As the winter months apporached Seri was bought back into the starting eleven and under new boss Liam Rosenior he established himself as a first team regular, providing the driving force in City’s midfield and occasionally wearing the captain’s armband as the Tigers climbed the Championship table.
Seri resumed his role as midfield lynchpin during the 2023/24 season and was a vital part of the team that flirted with the play-off places for much of the season – when Seri was playing for Cote d’Ivoire and winning the 2023 African Cup of Nations in January and February 2024, his absence was strongly felt in the Tigers team while his return coincided with an uptick in form. The Tigers fell just short of the play-off places at the end of the 2023/24 and when new manager Tim Walter came to the club Seri was deemed surplus to requirements in Walter’s all-action attacking style of play. Mika left the Tigers in August 2024 to pursue the career in Saudi Arabia that he was talked out of two years earlier.
Jean Michael Seri was born in Grand-Bereby, a coastal city of 100,000 people on the south west coast of Ivory Coast, latterly known as the Cote d’Ivoire. As a youngster he joined the newly formed Ivorian Football Academy and by the age of 16 he was playing for Africa Sports d’Abidjan. In 2010 he moved to ASEC Mimosas, Ivory Coast’s most decorated club side, and quickly broke into the first team.
In November 2012 he joined Portuguese giants FC Porto on loan, but he was confined to the B team for half a season in which he made 19 appearances and scored one goal. In August 2013 Seri made the permanent switch to FC Pacos de Ferreira, a Porto-based rival Primera Liga side to FC Porto. The Castores (translates as The Beavers) handed Seri first team football, his 34 senior appearances in his first season included six Europa League matches that featured a first senior goal against Romanian side Pandurii Targu Jiu. In the 2014/15 season Seri added a further 35 senior appearances and one goal, showing form that alerted clubs from across Europe.
In June 2015 he transferred to French Ligue 1 side OGC Nice and his hardworking and skillful style fitted well in French football. He scored three goals in 41 appearances in his first season with Les Aiglons, form that saw him called up for senior international duties by his country. Over the next two seasons he added a further 82 senior appearances and nine goals, taking his tally to 12 goals in 123 appearances, and by 2018 he was regarded as one of the European game’s hottest properties at a time when many clubs were searching for the diminutive hard-working francophone midfield figure made popular by Leicester City’s N’golo Kante. Talk of a move to Spanish giants Barcelona passed and in July 2018 he joined newly promoted Premier League side Fulham.
A first team regular in his first season at Craven Cottage, Seri made 34 senior appearances and scored a first Premier League goal in August 2018 against Burnley. He was surplus to requirements as the Cottagers returned straight back to the Championship and spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Turkish giants Galatasaray, scoring twice in 37 appearances that included six Champions League appearances. Mika briefly returned to Fulham in the 2020 close season but after just two League Cup starts in the opening weeks of the 2020/21 season he returned to the French top flight and joined Bordeaux in January 2021 on a five month loan. He made 13 senior appearances for Bordeaux before again returning to Fulham immediately after a second relegation. He stayed around for the 2021/22 season and became an important part of the Cottagers’ midfield as they again won promotion to the Premier League – Seri made 34 appearances, taking his tally to 70 appearances and two goals when he scored a late season strike in a 7-0 drubbing of Luton Town. But as Fulham returned to the top flight once again Seri’s contract expired and after a long period of courting he became one of the marquee signings to announce the new regime of Acun Illicali at Hull City.
In August 2024 Seri joined newly promoted Saudi Pro League side Al-Orobah, based at Sakakah in the north-west of the country, and made his debut a few days later against Al-Wehda. He scored one goal in 6 appearances before a serious muscle injury sustained in October 2024 ended his season prematurely.
In 2011 Seri was called up to represent his country in the Under-23s Africa Cup of Nations, making three appearances. In September 2015 he made his debut for the Ivory Coast senior side in a 0-0 draw against Sierra Leone. He scored his first senior international goal in November 2015 against Liberia and was a regular choice for his country until 2019. After a two year break Seri returned to international duty in September 2021 and was selected to play for Cote d’Ivoire in the 2023 African Cup of Nations finals, played in his home country in January and February 2024. After not being selected for the qualifying rounds, which The Elephants scraped through before dismissing their manager, Seri was restored to the first eleven for the knockout stage and guided his country to the AFCON title, putting in a man of the match performance in the final as his side defeated Nigeria. By the 2024 close season Seri had scored four goals while winning 58 international caps.
Details
Nationality: Ivory Coast
Date/Place of Birth: 19 July 1991, Grand-Bereby, Ivory Coast
Hull City First Game: 30 July 2022, Bristol City H (Championship), 31 years, 11 days old
Hull City Final Game: 14 August 2024, Sheffield Wednesday H (League Cup First Round), 33 years, 26 days old
Clubs
Africa Sports d’Abidjan (2007-2010), ASEC Mimosas (2010-2013), FC Porto (2012-2013, loan), FC Pacos de Ferreira (2013-2015), OGC Nice (2015-2018), Fulham (2018-2022), Galatasaray (2019-2020, loan), Bordeaux (2021, loan), Hull City (2022-2024), Al-Orobah (2024-current)
Hull City Record
Career: 77 apps, 2 goals
Jean Michael Seri| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 33 (4) | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2023/24 | 39 (0) | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2024/25 | – | – | – | – | 0 (1) | 0 | – | – | – | – |