Serge Aurier’s time at Tottenham Hotspur is officially over. In the past hour, after failing to secure a transfer or loan away from the club and as the transfer window careened to a close, reports emerged in both the French and English media that Spurs and Aurier were in talks to mutually terminate the Ivorian fullback’s contract.
Now, the club has confirmed it. Aurier leaves the club after 4 seasons and will presumably look to sign with another team as a free agent.
The Club can confirm the departure of Serge Aurier following the mutual termination of his contract.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 31, 2021
“Bittersweet” doesn’t quite capture the emotions of the moment. Aurier joined Tottenham as a replacement for Kieran Trippier, but came to the club with a whole bunch of baggage. As a player, he was a solid enough professional, an occasionally brilliant player, but one with a tendency for some truly mind-blowingly bad errors in games. Remember the match where he had multiple foul throws? Or any number of matches where he lost his head and gave away a stupid foul in a bad area or a penalty.
That’s not to say he wasn’t a good player — he was. He was arguably Tottenham’s best outlet for progression through the midfield last season, and up there as one of the better performers on the team under Jose Mourinho. But you always got the sense that he never quite liked it in England, or maybe just at Spurs. He turned out to be an okay guy, but just maybe not the right fit.
Aurier’s departure helps a bit with the glut of right backs currently at the club — we’re down to three now, with Japhet Tanganga, Matt Doherty, and new signing Emerson Royal competing for minutes in multiple competitions. That’s okay, for now. Aurier will look for another opportunity — he’s apparently linked with teams in Qatar and Russia, and we’ll see what happens from here.
Bye, Serge. It’s been real.
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