Tottenham Hotspur complete controversial Serge Aurier signing

Tottenham Hotspur have announced the signing of Serge Aurier, a massively talented right back who fills a huge need for the London club — but one who already has a checkered past many fans are unsure if they want to have as part of their team.

The last year has been one riddled in controversy for Aurier, with legal woes and other off-pitch controversies, but there’s little denying that if Aurier can keep his head screwed on straight and live up to his potential, he could be one of the best right backs on the face of the planet. He’s a tremendous attacker storming out of the back with all the athleticism and tools to be an elite defender — the question is more whether or not Serge Aurier will ever reach his potential.

Aurier needs to avoid trouble

This past year was a bad one for Aurier, who had a high-profile arrest for assaulting a police officer outside of a Paris nightclub. The incident left him with a suspended jail sentence and unable to enter England for a Champions League match against Arsenal, not to mention a deeply sullied reputation.

Legal maneuverings left him clear to get his British work permit approved on Wednesday, but Aurier’s reputation hasn’t improved any since then, especially after he used a homophobic slur in a rant against former PSG manager Laurent Blanc. That slur and his non-apology afterwards has Cartilage Free Captain angered at his signing, and they’re far from alone among the Spurs fanbase.

So if Aurier is going to be a part of this Tottenham side, he needs to show that he’s learned from his mistakes and genuinely changed. Not just keeping his nose clean — Aurier needs to find a way to show that he’s not only more focused on being the best right back he can be, he needs to show that he’s becoming a better human being as well.

Will Aurier finally step up against the best attackers?

One thing that’s constantly plagued Aurier on the pitch is that he’s too often left fans wanting more when PSG went up against big clubs in the Champions League. He has the talent and defensive tools to shut down the best wingers in the game, but too often he would disappear in the high-profile matches he would see those wingers in.

Part of that could be traced down to Aurier’s youth and him still relatively lacking top-level experience, but with him moving to a league where he’s going to face great attackers on a much more regular basis, it’s a big and pressing question to answer. Aurier has all the potential in the world, but until he figures out how to be consistent against the best in the business, potential is all he will ever have.

What now for Paris Saint-Germain?

PSG already have Dani Alves and Thomas Meunier at right back, giving a solid — if somewhat injury-prone — creative duo to fill the void Aurier leaves. Where we could see PSG spend some of this money is in central midfield, where they could still use a player with a little bit of steel in his spine to help replace the departed Blaise Matuidi and Gregorz Krychowiak.