Pundit believes Mourinho will look to replace 28-year-old in the summer

Gabriel Agbonlahor believes that Jose Mourinho will look to move Serge Aurier on in the summer due to his tendency to switch off while defending.

It appeared that until a couple of months ago that Matt Doherty’s arrival at Spurs was just the spark that Aurier had needed to refocus on his game.

The Ivorian looked to have turned a corner as after he put in a number of composed displays at the back.

However, mistakes have once again started creeping into the right-back’s game recently, with the 28-year-old being at fault for some poor goals Spurs have conceded including against Leicester and Liverpool.

It was reported that the former PSG man clashed with Mourinho at half-time during the 3-1 defeat against Liverpool after being substituted.

Mourinho’s decision to drop Aurier from the matchday squad against Brighton would have been assumed to have been confirmation that something had gone on behind the scenes, although the Spurs boss insisted that it was a technical decision to leave the defender out.

It seems as if the right-back has got back on the right page with Mourinho after he returned to the starting eleven for the clash against Chelsea on Thursday.

However, Agbonlahor has claimed that the Spurs boss has never really rated Aurier highly and will look to replace him at the end of the season.

The former Aston Villa striker told Football Insider: “In the Spurs documentary he says to him ‘I don’t like you on set pieces, you’re going to make a mistake’.

“Every time Aurier plays he seems to switch off. Whatever was said at half-time was deserved because I thought he was dreadful in his defending against Liverpool.

“If he’s not taken that well I don’t blame Jose Mourinho for leaving him out.

“I’m sure Jose Mourinho will be looking for a long-term replacement for Aurier.”

Spurs Web Opinion

To be fair to Aurier, he has hardly been our only defender to some poor defensive mistakes recently. The likes of Dier, Sanchez, Rodon and Davies have also been guilty of making unforced errors. Even though I still believe Doherty can come good for us, there is no question that Aurier deserves to be playing ahead of the former Wolves man from the evidence of what we have seen so far this season.

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