Tragedy hours after derby win

Christopher was found near club Kin’s

THE brother of Premier League footballer Serge Aurier has been shot dead outside a nightclub. Christopher Aurier, 26, was found lying on the ground with two gunshot wounds to the stomach in Toulouse.

He was near Kin’s club in an industrial zone on the outskirts of the French city.

He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, just hours after Serge helped Tottenham beat Arsenal in the North London derby match 2-1.

His suspected killer is still on the run and French police have launched an appeal for information to track the shooter down. Like Serge, Christopher was a footballer and played in the French fifth division with Toulouse Rodeo, in South West France.

The brothers are from the Ivory Coast and Serge, 27, is the national team’s captain.

Yesterday, Tottenham Hotspur said in a statement: “The club is deeply saddened to confirm media reports that Serge Aurier’s brother passed away in the early hours of this morning.

“Everybody at the club sends their sincerest condolences to Serge and his family. Our thoughts are with them.”

Christopher had a trial with Championship side Brentford back in 2011 but was not signed.

He came through the ranks at RC Lens like his older brother, but did not make the breakthrough to the highest level. Speaking of his trial at Brentford, Christopher said in 2017: “Brentford were in League One at the time. Everything went well with my trial, but I could not speak English at the time.”

The club is saddened to confirm his brother has died

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He previously had stints at Racing Club de Lens, FC Gueugnon, US Chantilly and Belgian club Rebecq.

Serge, who joined Spurs in 2017 from Paris SaintGermain, has recently found himself in trouble for breaching lockdown rules.

He has won 62 caps for Ivory Coast and won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015. With PSG he was a two-time French league champion.