Drogba and Toure advise Tottenham's Aurier to be more mature

Bengaluru, October 11: Retired Ivory Coast internationals Didier Drogba and Kolo Toure have both asked Tottenham Hotspur's new signing and compatriot Serge Aurier to show more maturity on and off the field if he wants to prolong his football career.

The Tottenham right-back has had a large group of issues on and off the field in his professional career, with the 23-year-old once involved in a brawl with the police and commented improper slurs at club officials, referees and even at his former boss Laurent Blanc.

The incident that time appeared to have ended the player's career at PSG, as the Ligue 1 side chose to drop him from their Champions League squad for their match against Chelsea and had him train with the reserves for one month.

However, after Blanc's departure, Emery utilised him as a backup player to Meunier and this season after the arrival of Dani Alves, the club decided to let him go who eventually made a £23m summer move to Spurs.

However, regardless of such issues, his former international team-mates Drogba and Kolo Toure both have come out in support of the player and backed him to show a difference in mentality now which will enable him to improve in both on and off the field and grow as a good professional in future.

“Serge Aurier maybe has to make those mistakes to really understand and realise what he represents,” Drogba told the Mirror.

“He’s a good person, he’s loyal, he wants to succeed. His problem is away from the pitch – he’s always given everything on the pitch.

“But you know that when there are kids who call your name and ask for autographs, you have to be careful with all your actions and gestures.”

Kolo Toure who is now the assistant coach of Ivory Coast, also heaped praise on the defender, however, suggested the right back should now show more maturity if he wants to have a better career.

Toure said: “It’s a lack of maturity, quite simply.

“I think he must feel very bad about it. But he got carried away and didn’t realise the consequences.

“Serge is a really good guy, ask his team-mates. He’s young. We’ve all been like that. We’ve all been through that stage when we’re young, playing the hard guy.”

Aurier has already suffered one-match suspension due to a red card in their victory at the London Stadium against West Ham United is now likely to make his fifth Spurs appearance in all competitions on Saturday (October 14) when Mauricio Pochettino's side host Bournemouth in the Premier League.