Mauricio Pochettino warns new boy Serge Aurier against courting controversy at Tottenham

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Mauricio Pochettino has given controversial £23m signing Serge Aurier a clean slate as he tries to rebuild his reputation at Tottenham Hotspur, but has warned him he will not accept any misbehaviour at the club.

Aurier has an assault conviction, which held up his deadline-day move from Paris Saint-Germain, and infamously used homophobic language against then-manager Laurent Blanc and his team-mates there. But Pochettino, publicly discussing the Aurier signing for the first time on Thursday, said that the Ivorien right-back “starts from zero” at Spurs and that his behaviour in France was not an issue.

Aurier only arrived back at Tottenham on Thursday afternoon after international duty with Cote d’Ivoire, but Pochettino has spoken to him at length about his behaviour and what is expected of him at Spurs. Pochettino puts great store by professionalism and joked that he has already told Aurier what will happen if he steps out of line at Spurs.

Asked about what Aurier said about Blanc, Pochettino admitted the topic had come up between them. “I said to him, ‘I’ll kill you,’” Pochettino joked, mimicking a headbutt.

But Pochettino did not sound overly concerned about what Aurier has done in the past. Pochettino admitted that he did not seek character references on him, and was willing to trust him to behave better in future. “I always try to feel what the player translates to you when you have a conversation and you meet,” Pochettino said. “It’s more important, the feeling that you get from people. I had a long chat with him. And I explained how we are, how I am, and what I expect from him. And the commitment from him.”

Pochettino has made his expectations clear, meaning Aurier will have nowhere to hide if he transgresses during his time at Tottenham. “With Serge Aurier, we were clear, and then if some issues happen in the future, we will see,” he said. “But I trust in him and he needs to show we can trust, from today.”

Pochettino also insisted that Dele Alli did “nothing wrong” in his televised obscene gesture during England’s game with Slovakia at Wembley on Monday evening. Alli has been roundly criticised for what has been interpreted in some circles as swearing at the referee.

But Pochettino said he had no issue with Alli, who he said was joking with Kyle Walker. “From my point of view, there is nothing wrong from Dele,” Pochettino said. “He is improving a lot. I am so happy with him. He needs to improve and learn, like me, like everyone. His behaviour is improving a lot.”

Fifa are looking into Alli’s gesture but Pochettino said that he was a victim of the proliferation of TV cameras at modern football stadiums, meaning that his joke has been taken out of context.

“Maybe the headlines are because it's Dele, he’s English, and something happens,” he said. “But I think it's not a big issue. For me, it's about moving on and not to create important things about this. He was joking. Look at Mr Bean. No? That is a bad example! All the people laugh about that. And Dele was joking with Kyle Walker! Come on. We need to censor Mr Bean.”