Why Tottenham should stay away from Serge Aurier

It’s been a long time since a player as well rounded as Toby Alderweireld has sported the lilywhite of Tottenham Hotspur. Arguably the best defender in the Premier League and amongst the finest in Europe, the Belgian has a skill-set beyond the needs of his position, and this extends to his off-field antics.

On Wednesday, Alderweireld shared a piece from The Times about Southampton’s player liaison officer, Hugo Scheckter, coming out to the squad as gay. It’s warmed the hearts of the Spurs faithful, and even Saints fans who turned their back on the centre-back when he chose a move to North London were respectful.

By now you’re probably thinking: 'Sean, we’re three paragraphs in, why are you talking about Toby Alderweireld?' Coincidentally, Toby’s public response has come at a time where Tottenham have been heavily linked to signing a player – Paris Saint-Germain right-back Serge Aurier.

So how are the two matters linked? In truth, it probably is what I just called it, a mere coincidence. But the timing is nonetheless impeccable.

Aurier is a notorious figure in the French capital. He was found guilty of assaulting a police officer in September 2016, narrowly avoiding a prison sentence (but being denied a visa into the country for PSG’s match with Arsenal). That wasn’t the first of Aurier’s offences, though.

Earlier in the year, Aurier was involved with a live-stream using Twitter’s sub-service, Periscope. During it, he insulted and personally attacked several team-mates and Laurent Blanc, who was manager at the time. Notably, he called Salvatore Sirigu gay, Blanc ‘a faggot’, and said that “he takes everything”, before further asserting that Blanc gives oral sex to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Of course, such words are going to cause a storm, and Aurier acted cowardly in the immediate aftermath, insisting the person in the video wasn't him.

The excuse didn’t wash though, and Aurier released a statement apologising to his peers and coach. Notably, he didn’t apologise for his ‘colourful’ choice of words, and I sense this was deliberate.

What Aurier said was inspired by hate. He was deliberate and aggressive with his vocabulary. His prejudices could not be more obvious if he's voicing them on a public broadcast, and even saying 'sorry' once would not be enough to cover it.

As far as football ability goes, Aurier is a fine right-back. He would be the strongest in that position at Spurs, and has the potential to surpass Kyle Walker. But I can’t stress enough how bad signing a player who harbours these blatant prejudices would be.

People have been pushing for the Ivorian’s signing on the basis that he would improve the team, that ‘as long as he plays well he can do what he likes’. I emphasise the term ‘team’, because although his footballing qualities are evident, it’s his personality that would be a negative for the club.

Football isn’t just about eleven blokes having a kick-about, it’s not even just about winning – if it were, we wouldn’t invest our lives and a good chunk of our income on the clubs we love.

Our club was in crisis in 2013-2014, and it wasn’t just about what was happening on the pitch. Tottenham finished 6^th with 69 points, their fourth highest tally in the Premier League era. There was, however, a clear divide within all corners of the club. The fans, the players, the people upstairs, none saw eye-to-eye. It was a shambles, and we’ve come a long way to improve every single aspect of this club.

Those who felt the pain and suffering of that time era, yet want to sign Aurier, are hypocrites. Tottenham’s reputation will be in tatters, and even speculation regarding a potential transfer has divided the fan-base. The club is in danger of falling away again.

For the better part of a decade, Spurs fans have spent plenty of time sticking it the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool for their religiously vile backing of players regarding racism. Again, any of us who contributed to that but advocates Aurier’s signing is a hypocrite.

There’s probably a select few arguing that the players in question, John Terry and Luis Suarez, helped their clubs massively, and that if a key player of ours was involved in such an incident that we’d back him too. That’s wildly inaccurate. If Harry Kane came out with a racist statement tomorrow, I’d want him out. Simple as.

Maybe people don’t care about the incident because it doesn’t directly impact them, which is pathetically ignorant. Would the core of our fan-base want to sign Aurier if he was racist about white people? Probably not, so why ignore his sexual prejudices?

As I’ve already alluded to, I’d rather lose with morals than win without them. Is that such a bad thing? Is defending a homophobe the hill you want to die on?

Again, some are bound to be questioning me as a football fan, but who’s really in the wrong here, someone who is homophobic, or the guy who’s condemning him?

Young people make mistakes, footballers are no different, I get that. But I’d say that a guy who knows he has an international following making disgusting comments about his co-workers and employers purposely on a live-stream is more than a mistake, and maybe even unforgivable, especially when his apology was lightweight.

There’s an attitude regarding homophobia in football that needs to be addressed. Far too many are dismissive of the issue, and the longer it manifests, the more toxic the sport will become. The BBC produced a documentary on the issue recently, and I urge all to watch it: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08z2jpc/ad/gareth-thomas-v-homophobia-hate-in-the-beautiful-game

People throughout the game are picking and choosing when discrimination is acceptable. I was sat right in front of Gary Lineker at the Linford Christie Stadium last year when, in an interview with the Guardian last year, he dismissed Jamie Vardy’s racist comments in 2015.

“I think it depends on how you say it and when you say it,” said Lineker.

No, Gary. There are no excuses for racism. Ever.

If a man as respected in the game as Lineker is spreading this sort of message about discrimination, what does that say?

Some of my closest friends are part of the LGBT community, I went with one of them to Pride in London last month. In February, I was attacked for wearing rainbow laces in support of the movement. I will continue to valiantly support them, and that extends to this ordeal. Spurs LGBT have said they’ve contacted the club to let them know their thoughts regarding any potential deal.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club are reaching the pinnacle of their footballing history – it’s not worth risking that for a homophobic right-back.