Tottenham correspondent Dan Kilpatrick talks how Serge Aurier will fit into the squad as well as how the club are handling his off-pitch concerns.
LONDON -- Mauricio Pochettino says Serge Aurier deserves a second chance at Tottenham, and insisted he has no concerns about the deadline-day signing after a long conversation with him.
Aurier joined Spurs for £23 million from Paris Saint-Germain last week, but his three-year stay in the French capital was marred with controversies.
He was arrested in Paris last May for assaulting a police officer outside a nightclub and later given a two-month "convertible" prison sentence, which has since been downgraded to a fine. Before that, he used a homophobic slur against former PSG boss Laurent Blanc during a live broadcast.
"I spoke with him, of course," Pochettino told a news conference. "But I'm a person that likes to move on. As I've always said, I'm the first to make mistakes in my life, and it's important that we give people the opportunity to show that you learn and improve in all decisions in your life too.
"We had a long chat. We talked about different things. He knows very well how we are, what we expect from him and for us it's so important, not only him, every player, how they behave here, in the squad. We need to keep the dynamic we have created. I trust him, I am confident that he can succeed here and help the team to achieve the things we want.
"When you know and you meet some people, always you start to assess him from the day that you meet them, and for me we start from [here] because I don't know him before.
"For me, I think it's exciting to have him in the squad and for him I think it's a new chapter in his life. It's sure it's a big opportunity for him to try to show all that he has inside, and the good player that he is."
Aurier's career has been marred with controversy.
Asked if Aurier, who has signed a five-year deal with Spurs, was a risk, Pochettino said: "No, not any problem. There's no doubt, like all, we need to learn and improve from our past and I think today is a very good opportunity to join us and try to show that it was a mistake from his side, but always people deserve another opportunity, and we are very excited to receive him and try to give him the facility to play -- to only be focused on football and try to enjoy it."
Aurier was one of two deadline-day signings at Spurs and Pochettino said the other, Fernando Llorente, could bring the experience of winning the 2010 World Cup to Tottenham's young squad, after joining from Swansea for £12m.
"First of all he's a great professional. He's a world champion -- he won the World Cup with Spain -- and that is the mentality that can translate to us with the experience of winning big things," Pochettino said of the 32-year-old, who is the oldest player he was signed for Tottenham. "He's very professional. You know very well that he scored 15 goals for Swansea last season. I think his characteristics can fit very well with the team.
"It's not easy to have the facility to sign players like Llorente. It was an amazing chance for us. He decided to sign for us and I think it's fantastic because he will bring very good experience and then that culture, to compete -- because competing is different to playing, and winning is different to trying to win. He can translate that feeling that is so important for our squad."
Pochettino also insisted that Toby Alderweireld is happy with his current contract and suggested there is no rush to open talks with the Belgian centre-back, who is reportedly on Manchester City's radar.
"He was talking with me in my office this morning and he's so happy, he wants to make it clear he is fully committed with the club. He's happy with his contract -- two [more] years plus one," he said. "It's not an issue. I recognise some rumours in the last few days. But he is so relaxed, so calm. His idea is to try to play here -- he's happy here, there's no reason to move."
Pochettino added tat Aurier is unlikely to debut against Everton on Saturday after arriving at the club for the first time on Thursday following international duty, while Victor Wanyama, Georges Kevin-Nkoudou, Danny Rose and Erik Lamela are still sidelined. The manager said he hoped the Argentine winger would return to training in early October.
Dan is ESPN FC's Tottenham correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @Dan_KP.
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Source: espn.co.uk