As reported by Football.London, Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Serge Aurier is an option to start against Crystal Palace tomorrow. It will serve as a massive boost for the Ivorian international, who was linked with a move away from north-London this summer. But, should Aurier remain at Spurs for the foreseeable future?
Aurier’s struggles at Tottenham
Aurier initially joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2017, in a €25 million move from Paris Saint-Germain. He was brought in to provide competition for Kieran Trippier and also to offer his experience into the side.
However, Tripper ended up having a stellar 2017/18 campaign, which was followed his by antics in the FIFA World Cup in France. As a result, Aurier became a second-fiddle to Trippier at right-back. He made only 17 league appearances in his debut campaign in the Premier League.
Trippier’s influence started to fade last season. But, unfortunately for Aurier, he lost his reputation under Pochettino as he ended up mustering only 563 minutes of league football. The Argentine was even willing to offload the right-back in the summer, despite the departure of Trippier to Atletico Madrid.
Life after Trippier
Following Trippier’s move to Spain, one should be forgiven for thinking that Aurier would become Tottenham’s first-choice right-back. But instead, Pochettino has opted to experiment with the young Kyle Walker-Peters, who started the first three matches.
The ex-PSG star also picked up an injury during the African Cup of Nations earlier this summer, which made it difficult for him to leave the club. It also phased him out for most of Spurs’ pre-season preparations, and that might have played a significant role behind Pochettino’s decision of starting with Walker-Peters.
No scope for future
While Aurier is finding it difficult to get regular game-time at Spurs at the moment, there is no scope for it in the future either. The Lilywhites have already signed Ryan Sessegnon, who is expected to provide competition to Walker-Peters at right-back. Both of them are fairly young and will only improve in the future.
Besides, Tottenham will likely search the market for an experienced right-back in the upcoming January transfer window, making it much more difficult for Aurier to nail down a regular place in the first-team.
Hence, it is perhaps wiser for the Ivorian to depart the club and try to revive his career somewhere else. At the age of 26, Aurier still has time on his side and given his quality; he could quickly become a key component for any top tier European club, including Borussia Dortmund.
