Serge clear to sign

SERGE AURIER finally received clearance to complete his £23m move to Tottenham yesterday.

But Spurs have passed on the chance to sign his Paris St-Germain teammate Lucas Moura.

Aurier was granted a work permit by the Home Office shortly before a deadline set by the French club was due to expire.

He will sign a five-year deal having agreed terms and passed a medical.

During talks over Aurier, Spurs were also offered Brazil winger Moura but they rejected the chance to sign him.

Aurier’s move had been delayed by legal issues because of his conviction for assaulting a policeman

last year. The former Manchester United target was refused permission to enter the UK last season to face Arsenal in a Champions League game.

But Aurier has appealed against the conviction and was granted permission to complete his transfer yesterday.

The 24-year-old is now eager to start life at Spurs after a controversy-plagued spell in France.

As well as his brush with the law, Aurier was suspended by PSG last February over apparent homophobic comments he made in an online video.

Despite his baggage, Mauricio Pochettino sees the Ivory Coast star as a key building block because of his versatility.

Surprise

Aurier is being brought in as a right-back following Kyle Walker’s move to Manchester City but can also play left-back and more centrally.

Spurs also confirmed the £9m signing of 19-year-old Estudiantes defender Juan Foyth but have yet to move for Ross Barkley and appear to have cooled on the Everton player.

Chelsea’s bid for 23-year-old Barkley took Spurs by surprise but there is little appetite to enter a bidding war for a player who will not return from injury until November.

Spurs could still make a move for Liverpool’s 22-year-old misfit Divock Origi but they are not pursuing Leicester’s 21-year-old winger Demarai Gray and no bids are planned for the England Under-21s star.