AC Milan director denies interest in Serge Aurier

Plot twist! Tottenham Hotspur fullback Serge Aurier has been linked away from the club ever since the summer ended, with AC Milan the club most frequently mentioned as a potential destination. That may no longer be the case. Speaking in a press conference with the Italian media, Milan sporting director Frederic Massara not only denied that Aurier was close to a move to the San Siro, he denied that Aurier is even a target for the rossonero.

Is Serge Aurier a target?

“There are many names that are linked to us. Aurier is an excellent player, but at the moment there are no conditions to think about him. He is not a target.”

Anyone who is familiar with the ups and downs of the football transfer window knows that what we think is true can turn and change in the blink of an eye. Also, people lie. I’m not sure what this is, but it’s certainly a change from what we’ve been hearing up until now.

]There have been rumors in the background that Milan has been trying to low-ball Tottenham for Aurier, and that Daniel Levy has held firm to his valuation of the Ivorian right back. That could be what we’re seeing here — this may be less Milan saying they were never interested and more Massara trying to backtrack when it became clear they have little shot of making a bid that will satisfy Spurs.

Either way, if Milan are cooling their jets on Aurier, then we better hope that the other club, Bayer Leverkusen, is more serious. Either that or we keep Serge for another year, but that doesn’t feel like a great option either. Reports are that a move for Wolves’ Matt Doherty (or any other right back target) could need to be financed by the sale of Aurier, and David Ornstein of the Athletic says in the video linked below (fast forward to 6’17”) that Jose Mourinho wants an experienced right back to come in as a stopgap measure.

The Ornacle doesn’t say who it is, but odds are it’s Doherty. Either way if we want new blood on the right flank, we might want to hope that Serge can learn to speak German, or a new suitor emerges.