Serge Aurier to Manchester United: Full story about claims of agreed deal and their origins

 

Wednesday’s copy of L’Equipe carries a story about Manchester United and Serge Aurier. It’s claimed the PSG player is in advanced talks with Jose Mourinho’s side, and is tempted by the potential transfer.

It’s important to make clear that L’Equipe aren’t taking these claims as their own. The French newspaper say the story comes from an Ivory Coast website called Sportmania.

Sure enough, Sportmania report it but the question mark at the end of their headline doesn’t instil confidence: ‘Transferts : Aurier d’accord avec Manchester United?’

Sportmania say ‘according to reliable sources’ (the nature of these isn’t explained), Aurier has found an agreement with Manchester United. The right back is said to be tired of the controversies surrounding him at PSG, as if these are things which happened to him rather than things he’s had influence upon.

In November 2016 Aurier was refused entry to the UK for a match against Arsenal. The footballer had been convicted of violence towards police officers, which he was appealing against, so a visa was denied.

Aurier was born in the Ivory Coast but moved to France at a young age. Despite that, there’s been doubt over his status as a French citizen due to a failure to go through the required process.

In early 2016 Aurier found himself in trouble after a periscope emerged of him insulting Laurent Blanc, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Angel Di Maria.

This season Thomas Meunier has provided serious competition to Aurier, another frustration for the 24 year old defender.

Manchester United looking for a new right back wouldn’t be a huge shock, but picking Aurier would perhaps be a surprise.