Mauricio Pochettino is primed to complete an £8m move for the Estudiantes central defender Juan Foyth but he has been left waiting over Tottenham Hotspur’s work permit application for another defensive target – the Paris Saint-Germain right-back Serge Aurier.
Tottenham have agreed a fee of €25m (£23m) for Aurier and personal terms with the player but the deal hinges on resolving the issues that relate to the criminal conviction he received in France last year.
The 24-year-old Ivory Coast international was given a suspended two-month prison sentence for the assault of a police officer outside a Paris nightclub. The sentence was “convertible” which means that, in such cases, the offender is more likely to do community service and pay a heavier fine. Aurier protested his innocence and he appealed – the outcome of which remains unknown.
Spurs have applied to the Home Office for the clearance Aurier needs to enter the United Kingdom and they have still to hear the decision. The Home Office says each such case is dealt with on an individual basis. Aurier missed a Champions League game at Arsenal last season after he was denied permission to enter the country because of his conviction.
Pochettino has tracked the 19-year-old Foyth during the summer but it had appeared PSG were in the driving seat to sign him. But Pochettino made a personal intervention to convince his fellow Argentinian to sign for Tottenham.
Pochettino has moved Kevin Wimmer out to Stoke City for £18m and loaned 19-year-old Cameron Carter-Vickers to Sheffield United. But Foyth will compete with the club record signing, Davinson Sánchez, in central defence – together with Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen while Eric Dier can also play in the position.