With hindsight, it’s fair to say Tottenham Hotspur’s £23million capture of Serge Aurier from Paris Saint-Germain has turned into a strange capture.
The 26-year-old Ivory Coast international made the switch to White Hart Lane back in the August 2017 window, but he has been limited to only 39 starting appearances with an additional three showings from the substitutes bench.
Mixed performances that split the fanbase, showings that made him an easy scapegoat for some and then some bizarre injuries, left many thinking he would be off this summer for pastures knew – especially as manager Mauricio Pochettino had seemed to favour Juan Foyth, Kyle Walker-Peters and even Davison Sanchez at right back in more recent times.
Amidst calls from some fans for Aurier to return to the starting XI, the player himself admitted he wanted to leave but a deal couldn’t be done and plenty took issue with his comment about having ‘no competition’ despite not playing.
Poch did call on him for the Crystal Palace clash though and statistics website Whoscored had him as our fourth best player on the day with a rating of 8.07 and he even chipped in with an assist.
Presumably, the spot is now his to lose, but speaking after the weekend’s action, Aurier himself insisted he was happy at the club and clarified his earlier comments to state that his desire to leave was due to a ‘personal situation’ but was in no way a problem with the club or manager.
“Yes, but that was the situation before the transfer window closed, the transfer window is now closed, now I am calm and happy to stay. I speak with everyone, I don’t want to leave. I had something in my head, but I didn’t want to leave for the gaffer or the chairman. It was my personal situation and now it is OK, everyone wants to give me another chance and now I am happy to stay and happy to play and happy for the victory. We need to give the best for this season and for the trophies. Nothing has changed in my life. I stay and now I want to prove and give my best for the supporters, for the club, for everyone.”
If he continues to perform like that, his Spurs career may well be up and running properly now.
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