Pochettino considering shock raid on Tottenham for erratic Mourinho man
Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly exploring the possibility of bringing inconsistent Tottenham defender Serge Aurier back to PSG this summer.
French outlet Le Parisien claims that the Ligue 1 giants will be in the market for a new right-back come the end of the season. And the report adds that sporting director Leonardo and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi are ‘unanimous’ in their decision to bring back Aurier after nearly four years in north London.
The Ivory Coast star was signed in a £23m deal in August 2017 and has gone on to score eight times in 106 appearances for Spurs.
Aurier was brought in as a replacement for Kyle Walker but has proven wildly inconistent during his stay. Indeed, he was expected to be sold when Matt Doherty was signed from Wolves last summer.
Aurier has, however, remained as Jose Mourinho’s first choice option at right-back. That is despite some of his old defensive misgivings popping up again during the second half of the campaign.
Despite having Aurier, Doherty and Japhet Tanganga on their books, Tottenham continue to be linked with right-backs.
Norwich star Max Aarons has been a target for some time, while Barcelona star Emerson Royal has also emerged as an option. With that in mind, cashing in on Aurier certainly makes sense from Spurs’ perspective.
Transfermarkt currently values Aurier at £18m, a figure that Tottenham would almost certainly accept given Aurier’s struggles.
The 28-year-old also has just over a year remaining on his current contract, so cashing in now makes sense.
The north London side could also decide to part ways with Doherty. The full-back has not looked the same player who shone during his time at Wolves.
The Republic of Ireland star hasn’t been helped by Mourinho’s preference to play a back four. He thrived as an attacking wing-back at Molineux.
Struggling Mourinho facing axe
Under-pressure Jose Mourinho could see his tenure at Tottenham end this summer, according to one report on Saturday.
Football.london reports “there is a growing belief within Tottenham Hotspur that Jose Mourinho will not be at the club next season”.
Things have certainly turned sour in the last six months for the Portuguese boss.
Spurs topped the Premier League table after 12 games this season. However, a run of poor results has since has seen them tumble down the league.
In fact since the 3-1 defeat at home to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on January 28, Spurs’ form would have them placed 18th in the league with only Sheffield United and Southampton having worse records.
In addition to that Tottenham exited the FA Cup in the fifth round at Everton. Then they collapsed in Europe, throwing away a 2-0 first leg lead to lose 3-2 on aggregate at Dinamo Zagreb.
They could still finish the season with a trophy if they can topple Man City in the Carabao Cup final. But Mourinho is hardly following the brief outlined to him when he took over in November 2019.
No progress made
Levy wanted a some fresh ideas brought to a side that looked to have gone stale in the wake of the disappointment of the Champions League final defeat in Madrid.
Mourinho was asked to build on what Mauricio Pochettino had done with four top-four finishes from 2015 to 2019. But after missing out on Europe’s top table last season they look destined to miss out again.
While, the cup final could hand Mourinho a trophy. The report claims “the inability to get the club back into the top four in a season when Spurs’ pandemic-hit finances desperately needed the huge boost looks to be costly not only to the club but the head coach’s tenure”.
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