‘Nothing you can do’ – Pundit claims Spurs had no choice with 29-year-old

Alan Hutton has claimed that Tottenham did not have much of a choice when terminating Serge Aurier’s contract after failing to find a buyer for the right-back this summer.

Tottenham announced the capture of Emerson Royal from Barcelona on deadline day, which left the North London club with four senior right-backs in the squad, including Japhet Tanganga.

The club subsequently announced they had reached an agreement to release Aurier, who had one year left to run on his contract.

The Ivory Coast international was linked with the likes of  Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan earlier in the window while Real Betis were also credited with an interest in the defender on deadline day but none of those moves materialised for the 28-year-old.

Hutton believes it was simply not feasible for the North London club to have a player of Aurier’s salary on the books after signing Emerson, insisting the Lilywhites did the right thing by striking a deal with the player’s entourage.

The former Tottenham man told Football Insider: “They’ve brought in Emerson, and they’ve got another two there. Having four right-backs is a problem.

“Aurier came in for big money, he’ll have been on big wages. It’s not ideal to terminate the contract, Spurs will have wanted to recoup some of the fee.

“But there was no interest there, so there’s just nothing you can do. I do understand why Spurs have taken this stance. They didn’t need him at the club for his last year on big wages.

“It was either he sat there on the sidelines for a year or terminate his contract and let him be on his way, and they’ve chosen the latter. Hopefully, it can work out for everybody.”

Spurs Web Opinion

I suspect Aurier’s entourage were not pushing for a transfer as they would have likely preferred to cut a deal with Spurs. The Ivorian will have more options to choose from as a free agent and would likely also be able to negotiate better terms with his next club.

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