Arsenal have been reportedly linked with a move for ex-Tottenham Hotspur defender Serge Aurier on a free transfer.
Serge Aurier, 28, joined Tottenham Hotspur from Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017 and made 110 appearances across all competitions, scoring eight goals. However, on the transfer deadline day, Spurs announced the player’s exit after the mutual termination of his contract a year before its expiry.
According to Sky Sports, free agent Serge Aurier would consider a move to north London rivals Arsenal with Mikel Arteta’s side among a number of clubs made aware of the Ivory Coast skipper’s desire to stay in England.
The Gunners were the biggest spenders in the Premier League during the recently-concluded summer transfer window, signing as many as six players. Mikel Arteta’s sixth and final summer signing came in the form of Takehiro Tomiyasu, the versatile defender who joined from Serie A side Bologna on the deadline day.
Despite a heavy outlay of £142milllion on new faces, Arsenal are currently rock bottom of the Premier League table with three defeats in as many games and conceding nine goals without a response.
Serge Aurier to Arsenal—Should Mikel Arteta sign the full-back?
A 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City before the international break meant Arsenal have suffered the worst start to a top-flight season in 67 years. There is a pattern building for all wrong reasons in north London and Mikel Arteta needs to try something different, get a solution as fast as possible to take his team out of this rut.
It’s fair to say that right now the Gunners are in a state of crisis. The players look drained, devoid of energy, morale and confidence only three games into the new season. Arteta must pick up the pieces from the floor and join them before time runs out. One area the Spanish tactician needs to address is his defence, which looked all over the place before the international break.
With the transfer window well shut and not opening anytime soon, Arteta could look at free agents if he further wants to improve the backline having added defenders such as Ben White, Nuno Tavares and Takehiro Tomiyasu to his squad. That being said, would a move for free agent Serge Aurier be right for Arsenal?
Aurier’s four-year spell at Tottenham was more of a miss than a hit. He never really convinced at his former club despite being given regular opportunities at right-back by Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho, committing some high-profile errors and mistakes. New Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo didn’t fancy Serge Aurier at all, using Japhet Tanganga and Matt Doherty as his preferred right-back options for their season’s opening three games.
To put things straight, Arsenal are clearly not in a position to sign an error-prone, inconsistent player in Serge Aurier who failed to live up to the high expectations at Tottenham. The Ivorian is definitely not the answer to the Gunners’ troubles at the back.
In fact, having signed Tomiyasu as a replacement for Hector Bellerin, who joined Real Betis on loan on the deadline day, and with players like Cedric, Calum Chambers and Ainsley Maitland-Niles available to fill in for the Japanese international when required, Arteta has considerable depth at right-back.
Thus, Arteta should simply keep faith in his current squad and avoid signing Aurier on a free transfer.