LONDON • Ivorian Serge Aurier yesterday completed his £23 million (S$40.3 million) move from Paris Saint-Germain to Tottenham.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino had wanted a new right-back after he sold Kyle Walker to Manchester City for £50 million, and in Aurier he got a dynamic, if controversial, figure.
"This is a huge and exciting opportunity at a massive football club and I am determined to prove myself as a professional both on and off the pitch," Aurier said in comments published on the club's website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com).
"This is a fresh start for me and I will do everything to make the Spurs fan base, which is huge and diverse, proud of me."
The 24-year-old was given a suspended two-month jail sentence last year for an assault on a police officer outside a nightclub in Paris. However, he protested his innocence and appealed.
The conviction had prevented him from entering Britain last November when PSG played Arsenal in the Champions League and it stood to derail his proposed move to Tottenham.
His reference to Tottenham's "diverse" fan base was also a pointed one, as he was suspended by PSG last year for making a homophobic slur against former coach Laurent Blanc in a social media video.
Aurier is Tottenham's fourth acquisition of the transfer window after centre-backs Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth, and back-up goalkeeper Paulo Gazzanigga.
Meanwhile, Swansea City signed Euro 2016 winner Renato Sanches on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich yesterday.
The 20-year-old Portuguese midfielder will join his new team-mates in south Wales upon his return from international duty.
Swansea manager Paul Clement had worked with Sanches while he had a six-month spell as an assistant coach at Bayern last year before moving to the Liberty Stadium.
Sanches joined Bayern from Benfica for £27.5 million last season after featuring in Portugal's run to the European Championship title and went on to make 26 appearances for the German giants as they took the Bundesliga crown.
But he spent most of last season on the bench and now Bayern have warned Sanches that he needs to show his old form with Swansea if he is to have a future in Munich after completing a loan move worth €8.5 million (S$13.7 million).
THE GUARDIAN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
