Just five years on from leaving Tottenham Hotspur, Serge Aurier has made an extremely surprising decision on his next move.
Aurier signed for Spurs in the summer of 2017 from PSG in a £23m deal, with the defender brought through the door to replace Kyle Walker.
He had a relatively successful five-year spell in North London, making 110 club appearances, scoring eight goals, and being part of the team which reached the Champions League final in 2019.
He later spent a year in Villarreal, two years with Nottingham Forest, and won the Turkish league with Galatasaray in 2024 before moving to Asia.
Former Tottenham man Serge Aurier set to sign for seventh-tier club
Aurier has been a free agent since leaving Iranian side Persepolis last year and, according to La Voix du Nord, the right-back is set to return to France, but not in the manner anyone would have expected.
The report claims that the 33-year-old is now in talks with French minnows Montigny-en-Gohelle, who play in the second division of the Hauts-de-France regional league.
Montigny-en-Gohelle are in the seventh tier of French football and just conceded ten goals at the weekend to rivals Biache-Saint-Vaast.
Aurier’s deal is reportedly being held up due to delays with documents from the Iranian FA, but sources close to the player expect the move to go through imminently.
Aurier is set to transition into a youth coach
The report reveals that the former Tottenham man has been appointed as the Under-15 coach at Lens, the club where he came through the ranks and made his professional debut.
The report reveals that Aurier’s soon-to-be new club, Montigny-en-Gohelle, is based just eight miles east of Lens.
It thus appears that the full-back has accepted this playing gig in order to be closer to his work environment and perhaps give him the opportunity to play some football recreationally.