Released Tottenham man ‘very close’ to linking up with a familiar face
Former Tottenham defender Serge Aurier is close to signing for a new club after his release at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The 28-year-old full-back left Spurs in August and ended his four-year stay in north London.
Spurs had been looking to offload the right-back for much of the summer transfer window. The likes of Lille, Real Betis and Genoa were all credited with an interest in the Ivory Coast star, but nothing materialised.
So the out-of-favour defender mutually agreed with the club to terminate his contract, which had less than a year left to run.
And now, according to L’Equipe, Aurier “is very close to signing up with Villarreal”.
Aurier has been in Spain to talk over terms and is expected to pen a deal for the LaLiga club imminently.
Unai Emery is the man in charge at Villarreal and he had Aurier under his wing when the pair were together at Paris Saint-Germain.
Villarreal remain the only unbeaten team in LaLiga and sit in 11th place.
Their 2-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday was only their second win of the season. They have had five draws from their seven league games to date.
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EVERTON INTEREST
Everton were understood to be keen on Aurier, according to The Liverpool Echo recently.
Rafa Benitez and Co. discussed Aurier as a solution to a problem position at right-back.
It was thought that getting James Rodriguez off the Goodison wage bill would free up funds to land Aurier.
The 30-year-old was the highest-paid player at Everton and therefore took up a considerable chunk on the wage bill.
The Toffees moved him on to Qatar-based Al-Rayyan.
However, no move for Aurier has been forthcoming.
He was also linked with a transfer to Arsenal. A move which would not have gone down well with Spurs fans.
Sky Sports reported that Aurier remained keen on another club in England. The free agent has been approached by clubs in France, Russia and Turkey, but Arsenal were also interested.
Calcio In Pillole reporter Ekrem Konur claimed that Arsenal has been offered Aurier.
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