Fulham's summer transfer window certainly turned heads after spending over £100million - but the signing of Jean-Michael Seri from Nice was the jewel in the crown.

Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool were all after the Ivory Coast 'Xavi', who had came so close to signing for Barcelona the year previously, before the Spanish giants pulled out of the deal for the 27-year-old.

That opened the door for a move to England, with the Premier League's top clubs all queuing up to add him into their midfields.

Come August, Seri was signing for a west London club - but it wasn't the one everybody was expecting.

Fulham, fresh from promotion to the Premier League after winning the Championship play-off final against Aston Villa, shoved their way to the front of the queue and got themselves what could well be the signing of the season, securing Seri on a four-year deal.

He's already become a cult hero in the eyes of the fans and has scored one of the best goals of the season too, opening the scoring against Burnley with a thunderous 30-yard effort into the top corner.

But what made a man who had nearly signed for Barcelona and was chased by the top English sides choose Fulham?

(Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

The answer is simple: They gave him the respect of wanting him.

Speaking to the Times, Seri said: “When I played for Pacos de Ferreira in Portugal, Nice came for me and they really came. Fulham wanted me the same way. They said, ‘We want you, come to Fulham.’

(Image: Henry Browne/Getty Images)

“Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, they saw me but they didn’t say, ‘We want you.’ Because Fulham gave me this respect, although other clubs wanted me, I wanted to sign for Fulham.

“Fulham said to my president, ‘We want Mica Seri, talk to him if he’s interested because we know Chelsea, Manchester want him and he almost signed for Barcelona but we are back in the Premier League.’

My president calls me, he says, ‘Fulham want you, do you want to go?’ I say, ‘If they want me, they respect me. The big clubs want me but Fulham show they want me.’ ”

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