Spartak Moscow chief, Shamil Gazizov has revealed that the club had an agreement in place to sign Serge Aurier from Tottenham during the summer transfer window but the move fell through after the right-back decided to stay put in North London.
Aurier was heavily linked with a move to Spartak during the summer after Tottenham secured the signing of Matt Doherty.
However, the move did not materialise and the Ivorian has been handed more game time at Spurs than he may have expected despite the arrival of Doherty.
The former PSG defender made a strong start to the season but the Republic of Ireland international has seemingly moved ahead of him in the pecking order over the last few weeks.
With the former Wolves man now self-isolating after testing positive for COVID-19, Aurier could start in the crucial game against Manchester City on Saturday.
It turns out that Spurs could have been in an even tighter spot as Aurier came very close to leaving the club, with Gazizov revealing that the 27-year-old turned down the transfer due to family reasons.
The Spartak chief told Russian publication Sport Express (as relayed by Tribal Football): “We agreed with Aurier. We agreed with (chairman) Daniel Levy that the transfer can take place for a certain amount of money.
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“It was about €8.5m (£7.6m). There were normal negotiations with the player.
“At a certain stage in his life, there were not very good moments connected with his family.
“He couldn’t have brought his mom and his family here. He lost his brother and dad. He decided to stay in England and not make any sudden moves.”
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