Serge Alain Stéphane Aurier (; born 24 December 1992) is an Ivorian professional footballer who currently plays as a right back for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and captains the Ivory Coast national team. Aurier moved to France as a child and played for Lens, Toulouse and Paris Saint-Germain, winning 11 major trophies with the latter. He totalled 195 appearances in France and was twice named in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

's Team of the Year. In 2017, he joined Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of around £23 million and left after mutual termination of his contract in August 2021. Aurier made his international debut for the Ivory Coast in 2013 and has earned over 80 caps, serving as captain since 2017. He represented the nation at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and four

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

tournaments, winning the 2015 edition.

Club career

Lens

Aurier played for various youth teams and academies before he was accepted to join Villepinte. He then joined Lens in

, where this started his professional footballing career. Shortly after, Aurier, who was then thirteen at the time, had to leave his friends and family as a result of joining Lens. There, Aurier was assigned to the club's reserve team and at a point, was the club's captain in the reserve team. In June 2009, Aurier signed his first professional contract with Lens. Aurier made his professional debut for the club in a 1–0 win over

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

on 22 December 2009. Aurier was given another opportunity in the Round of 16 of Coupe de la Ligue, a 2–1 loss against Lorient. He soon sustained a shoulder injury that left him out for two or three weeks. Despite this, Aurier went on to make five appearances for Lens in his first season. Aurier's second season saw him break into the first team, and although he went on to make 26 appearances in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, the club was relegated to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

after finishing second-last in the league table, at 19th. Prior to club's relegation, Aurier had signed a contract extension with the club through to 2015. Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Aurier's performance soon attracted interest from clubs around England, with the player considering departing Lens for a new opportunity. However, Aurier ruled out a move abroad, implying that regardless of whether or not Aurier chose to stay or leave Lens, he would be footballing for a member of France's principal league. Despite this, however, Aurier began the year with Lens, making 16 appearances in the first half of the season around which time the club was facing financial issues.

Toulouse

On 26 January 2012, Aurier ultimately left Lens, signing for Toulouse on a four-and-a-half-year deal. The move came after Toulouse's president hinted he would sign Aurier for a €1.5 million transfer fee. Aurier made his debut for the club two days later, in a 2–1 win over

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Lille on 1 April 2012. Soon after, Aurier sprained his ankle which saw him miss six matches, though he was back for the last game of the season, which saw Toulouse lose 2–0 against

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

. In his first half-season at Toulouse, he made ten appearances. In his first full season at Toulouse in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, Aurier provided an assist for Wissam Ben Yedder, but was sent-off in the 84th minute for a challenge on Henri Bedimo in a 1–1 draw with

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. His sending off saw him suspended for three games with one-year suspended. After serving his two games, Aurier made his return on 1 September 2012 in a 1–1 draw against

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

. He scored his first goal of the season on 11 January 2013, in a 2–2 draw against Saint-Étienne. Aurier was sidelined later on in the season after tearing a hamstring and injuring his right knee. Despite being on the sidelines for a period of time, Aurier made 28 appearances, scoring one goal. Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Aurier signed a contract extension, keeping him at Toulouse until 2018. This came after re-ignited interest in his services from clubs around Europe. Under the management of Alain Casanova, Aurier found himself playing in a 3–5–2 formation as a right-sided centre back in the three-man defence, as well as a wing-back at times. He went on to play an attacking role by assisting two goals in two different matches by the end of September. Aurier then scored his first goal of the season in a 2–1 loss against Evian on 2 November 2013. His second goal of the season came on 2 February 2014, in a 2–2 draw against Marseille. His third goal of the season came on 15 February 2014 in a 3–1 win over Lorient. He went on to score two goals in two games against Reims and

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. His sixth goal of the season came on 5 April 2014 in a 2–1 loss against Lille. Aurier went on to make 34 appearances, scoring six times. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Aurier was shortlisted for the

Ligue 1 Player of the Year The Ligue 1 Player of the Year, is an award given to the player whose performances are considered to be the best, playing in Ligue 1. The award has been presented since the 1993–94 season and the first winner of the award was Paris Saint-Germain ...

for the first time in his career. He was also named as the second-best player African player in Ligue 1. After an impressive display at the

for the Ivory Coast, Aurier was again linked with a move away from Toulouse. In an interview, Aurier stated that his dream move would be to English club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

of the Premier League and claimed that he could not turn them down if they made an offer for him.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 23 July 2014, Aurier joined Paris Saint-Germain on a season-long loan with an option for the Parisian club to purchase outright. His move to PSG was believed to be as a replacement for incumbent right back

Christophe Jallet Christophe Jean-Pierre Jallet (born 31 October 1983) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right back. During his career, he played for Niort, Lorient, Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon, Nice and Amiens, as well as register ...

. Upon moving to PSG, Aurier stated he had no concern over his first-team chances, despite facing competition from Gregory van der Wiel, who also plays primarily as a right back. Aurier made his PSG debut in the

2014–15 Ligue 1 The 2014–15 Ligue 1 season was the 77th season since its establishment. Paris Saint-Germain were the two-time defending champions and successfully defended their title. Teams There were 20 clubs in the league, with three promoted teams from Li ...

, coming on as a substitute for Van der Wiel in a 2–0 win over Bastia on 16 August 2014. He scored his first goal for PSG in the Round of 16 of Coupe de la Ligue in a 3–1 victory over Ajaccio. In the first half of the season, Aurier was unable to establish himself in the first team due to his own injury concerns and international commitments. Aurier played his first PSG match in one month – lasting the entire 90 minutes – in a 2–2 draw against Caen; his performance was later praised after the match. During the match, however, he injured himself and was not substituted out, as manager Laurent Blanc had previously used all three of his substitutions earlier in the match. Whilst on the sidelines in PSG's UEFA Champions League match against Chelsea, Aurier found himself in trouble with UEFA after criticising Björn Kuipers' refereeing decision and calling him a "dirty son of a bitch" in a video posted on Facebook. Though Aurier later apologised for his actions, UEFA nonetheless suspended him for three matches. On 29 April 2015, Aurier secured a permanent move to PSG, signing a four-year contract. Aurier's first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came in the Trophée des Champions against Lyon, where he scored his first PSG goal and helped the club win 2–0. Aurier found himself competing with Van der Wiel over a right position under the management of Blanc. Aurier scored his first league goal for PSG goal on 26 September 2015 in a 4–1 win over

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

. For his performance, Aurier was named Team of the Week by '' L'Équipe''. Four days later, Aurier scored in the Champions League group stage in a 3–0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk. Aurier scored against Lyon for the second time in the season three months later on 13 December 2015, helping his team to a 5–1 victory. Aurier was suspended indefinitely on 14 February 2016 for calling teammate Ángel Di María a "clown" and calling Blanc a "''fiotte''" (a homophobic slur) during a question-and-answer session on Periscope in which he also criticised supposed favouritism towards striker Zlatan Ibrahimović. Following his suspension, PSG ordered Aurier to train with their reserve side from 29 February until 20 March.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 31 August 2017, Aurier signed for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur for a fee in the region of £23 million. He made his debut on 13 September in a 3–1 win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium in the

2017–18 UEFA Champions League The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pla ...

. Ten days later, Aurier made his full league debut at West Ham United, but he was sent off upon receiving a second yellow card as Tottenham held on for a 3–2 victory. His first goal for the club came in a 2–0 home win against Brighton & Hove Albion on 13 December 2017. Aurier competed for the right-back spot with Kieran Trippier throughout the season. In his second season in London, Aurier was competing for his place not only against Trippier, but also with young Englishman Kyle Walker-Peters. On 4 January 2019, in an FA Cup third round match away to

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Tranmere Rovers, he scored twice in a 7–0 win. He suffered a number of injuries this season, including a hamstring injury while on international duty in March 2019, as a result he only played eight Premier League games, 17 in all competitions, this season for Tottenham. Despite talks of wanting to leave the club in the summer, Aurier made a successful first appearance in the 2019–20 season in the match against Crystal Palace on 14 September, helping the team win 4–0 by providing an assist for a Son Heung-min goal. He also provided the most crosses from open play in the match, one of which was deflected by a Palace defender as an own goal. Two weeks later, he was sent off in the first half of a 2–1 home win over Southampton. In the 2020–21 season, Aurier scored his first goal of the season away to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

on 4 October 2020, contributing to a 6–1 win that was Tottenham's biggest at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

and their best result against United since 1932. On 31 August 2021, following the signing of Emerson Royal, he departed after the mutual termination of his contract with one year remaining.

Villarreal

On 4 October 2021, Spanish side Villarreal announced the signing of Aurier until the end of the 2021–22 season, with the option of extending the contract for two more years. He made his debut 20 days later in a 2–1 loss at

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

, as a 65th-minute substitute for former Spurs teammate

Juan Foyth Juan Marcos Foyth (born 12 January 1998) is an Argentine professional football player who plays as right-back or centre-back for Spanish club Villarreal and the Argentina national team. Having begun his professional career at his hometown club ...

. Troubled by injury, he was second-choice to the Argentine over the season.

Nottingham Forest

On 7th September 2022, Nottingham Forest announced the signing of Aurier, currently subject to visa approval.

International career

Despite having lived in France for over 14 years, Aurier does not hold a French passport, and had originally turned down the chance to play for the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. However, he was called up by manager Sabri Lamouchi in April 2013, and eventually played his first match for his homeland against the

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

on 8 June that year. Aurier was included in Ivory Coast's 23-man squad for the

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

. In the first group match, against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, he provided assists for both Wilfried Bony and Gervinho in a 2–1 win. Accolade_entre_capitaines

On 29 December 2014, Aurier was called up for the

. He played six matches and impressed with his displays in the tournament, particularly in the final. He was shortlisted for the CAF Team of the Tournament. In October 2016, during a

World Cup Qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

against Mali, Aurier rushed to the aid of Mali midfielder, Moussa Doumbia, who had had an epileptic seizure to prevent him from swallowing his tongue. Despite his good deed, Aurier later drew criticism for celebrating Ivory Coast's second goal with a 'slit throat' gesture. Aurier scored his first goal for the Elephants on 11 January 2017, in a 3–0 friendly win over Uganda in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, after earlier assisting

Jonathan Kodjia Jonathan Adjo Kodjia (born 22 October 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Umm Salal in the Qatar Stars League. Born in France, he represents the Ivory Coast national team at International level. Kodjia started his car ...

. He was made captain of the national team starting with a friendly against the Netherlands, followed by a match against

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

in the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, the 32nd edition of the international men's football champion ...

rounds in June 2017. He was also captain at the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

, but suffered a hamstring injury in a 1–0 defeat against Morocco and could not participate further in the competition. Aurier skippered the team at the

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

in Cameroon. In the second group game, a 2–2 draw with Sierra Leone, he played in goal for the final seconds after goalkeeper Badra Ali Sangaré was injured while letting in

Alhaji Kamara Alhaji Kamara (born 16 April 1994) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a forward for the danish football club Randers FC and the Sierra Leone national team. Club career He started his professional career at FC Kallon in t ...

's equaliser; the campaign ended on penalties to Egypt in the last 16.

Personal life

Born in Ouragahio, Ivory Coast, Aurier moved to France when he was young, after his parents wanted their children to have a better life. He was passionate about football while growing up. Aurier's younger brother, Christopher, played for his former club Lens. In the early hours of the morning on 13 July 2020, Christopher was shot dead outside a nightclub in Toulouse, France. On 26 September 2016, Aurier was found guilty of assaulting a police officer outside a nightclub in Paris. He was sentenced to two months in prison, but remained at liberty pending an appeal. Although UK authorities granted Aurier a visa in October 2016, it was revoked on 16 November due to his conviction, and as a result, he missed the UEFA Champions League match against

in London that month. Aurier was originally banned from entering the UK for five years from his conviction, but he was permitted to move to Tottenham in 2017 because his suspended sentence had been converted into a fine.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 3 June 2022. Ivory Coast score listed first, score column indicates score after each Aurier goal.''

Honours

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 * Coupe de France: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 * Trophée des Champions:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Tottenham Hotspur *

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

* UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2018–19 Ivory Coast *

Individual * CAF Team of the Year: 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 *

Team of the Tournament:

Ligue 1 Team of the Year The Catholic League of France (french: Ligue catholique), sometimes referred to by contemporary (and modern) Catholics as the Holy League (), was a major participant in the French Wars of Religion. The League, founded and led by Henry I, Duke of ...

: 2013–14, 2015–16 * FIFPro World XI 5th team: 2016

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurier, Serge 1992 births Living people People from Gôh-Djiboua District Ivorian footballers Ivory Coast international footballers Association football defenders RC Lens players Toulouse FC players Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Villarreal CF players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Premier League players La Liga players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Ivorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France People convicted of assault Outfield association footballers who played in goal