When Serge Aurier joined Nottingham Forest he was their 22nd signing of the summer. That lofty number prompted some predictable responses.
“Have Forest signed up for a bigger team bus yet?”
“They say you can’t buy an entirely new team in one window. Turns out you can actually buy two…”
“I predict he will make three sub appearances all season.”
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Those were all comments posted under The Athletic article on his arrival. Helpfully, Aurier is somebody well-versed in dealing with preconceptions.
When he signed for Tottenham for £23million ($28m) in 2017, he had some significant shoes to fill as the replacement for Manchester City-bound Kyle Walker. Four years later, he was a man who hugely divided opinion, as he departed the capital to join Villarreal, his contract terminated a year early.
Some saw him as an inconsistent, error-prone defender who couldn’t be trusted. Others regarded him as an unfair target for criticism, given he had long spells where he was a consistent performer after a difficult start.
He never reached the same heights as England international Walker, which was perhaps the core of the problem. There were times at Tottenham when he was better known for his colourful dress sense, irrepressible sense of humour and love of French hip-hop than he was for his contribution on the pitch.
And it was through that lens that some people formed their expectations when he arrived in Nottingham. When he joined Forest, the general presumption was that he would be little more than an experienced back-up for Neco Williams, the right-back or wing-back that the club had spent £17million to sign from Liverpool — a price tag that reflected his youthful potential. And still does.
Even Steve Cooper admitted that he had certain preconceived ideas about Aurier before he got to know him. But in his four months as a Forest player, the Ivory Coast captain has dispelled many notions, well beyond the boundaries of the head coach’s office.
Last Wednesday night, after Forest had secured a place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup with a penalty shootout win over Wolves, Aurier was leading the celebrations in the home dressing room. He, along with Jesse Lingard and Morgan Gibbs-White, danced like nobody was watching — even if Emmanuel Dennis’ 326,000 Instagram followers soon were after the striker posted footage online.
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On Saturday, against Leicester, he produced his best performance yet in the Garibaldi red. Gibbs-White laid on two assists and Brennan Johnson applied the finish for both goals — but Aurier was still awarded the sponsors’ man-of-the-match award.
But such moments have been hard-earned. Aurier has quietly and gradually become one of the most important figures in the team.
Against Wolves his touch, applied to a Gibbs-White corner, had hit the bar, with the rebound eventually forced home by Willy Boly, to put Forest ahead. But more than that, 30-year-old Aurier had again been a steadying influence down the right side.
Against Leicester, both Aurier and Renan Lodi provided attacking width from the full-back positions, with Aurier’s four crosses and Lodi’s three only bettered by six from the roaming Gibbs-White. The duo were also rock-solid defensively, with Aurier making three tackles, two interceptions, six clearances and blocking a shot. The graphic below shows his completed passes (dark red) and incomplete passes (grey) and a map showing where he was active on the pitch. Aurier covered a huge portion of the pitch.
Aurier remains a character who can have his team-mates in stitches but he has evolved into something unexpected at Forest: a leader who leads by example. Aurier has quickly established himself as a positive influence in the dressing room who takes younger players, including Williams, under his wing and offers advice.
He makes full use of the experience gained while winning 83 caps for his country, making 110 appearances for Spurs and playing 24 times for Villarreal last season, including five appearances in the Champions League as they reached the semi-finals.
“I have been really impressed. You hope his experience will come to light when you work with him. He has definitely shown that,” says Cooper.
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“He has had a good impact on and off the pitch. He has really settled. He is comfortable in the area, which always helps when you feel at home.
“That allows him to focus on his football and be a positive influence on some of our younger, lesser experienced players.”
Cooper’s stock response to questions about the business Forest have done in the transfer market is to fall back on his own sense of humour, to joke about what it must be like for players to find themselves in a dressing room with another new signing alongside them… and another on the other side of them… and six more on the other side of the room.
But Aurier is rapidly starting to look like the best value addition Forest have made — probably in many years — considering he arrived as a free agent.
His debut came in the 4-0 defeat at Leicester, when he came on as a half-time substitute with most of the damage already done, as Forest trailed by three goals. But since then, he has been a regular in the side and the gradual improvement, when it comes to their solidity and defensive strength, has not been a coincidence.
In his 10 Premier League starts and one substitute appearance, Aurier has averaged more tackles per game (2.9) than anyone else at Forest, with Williams next best (2.4). His average of 3.5 clearances per game is only bettered by Boly (5.4), Scott McKenna (4.7) and Steve Cook (4.2). Boly (1.6) and Williams (1.4) lead the way with interceptions, but Aurier is not far behind with 1.2.
Smarterscout data can also be used to analyse Aurier’s attributes this season. It gives players’ games a series of ratings from zero to 99 relating to either how often a player performs a given action (for example, volume of shots per touch), or how effective they are at it (for example, how well they progress the ball upfield) compared with others playing in their position.
His stats (collated after the Wolves game) suggest a player capable of having an impact at both ends of the pitch. Aurier has a big defensive impact score (85 out of 100) and is reasonably strong at disrupting opposition moves (67). He can help move Forest up the pitch with his progressive passing (77) and is a goal threat (xG from shot creation, 77).
Aurier will look to get the ball forward and create chances but his ball retention (20 out of 100) is low, suggesting he might lose possession too often. But he stands out for his physicality — his weighted duel ratings show few defenders win as many tackles as he does.
In short, he is a solid defender who can carry the ball up the pitch.
Williams has a fight on his hands if he wants to win back that right-back role, even if he is also held in high regard by Cooper. The head coach sees other qualities in Aurier that 21-year-old Williams is still honing.
“He does bring that element of calm. He could have played forward a bit quicker against Wolves,” says Cooper. “But generally he gets the balance right between understanding the game and the emotion of it. He understands the momentum of games and what is needed. He knows when to speed things up and when to slow the game down. He just has a positive effect.
“He helps us to game manage, he is a calming influence. He has been equally impressive on and off the pitch.”
In September, plenty of people questioned the logic of signing Aurier. They are far fewer in number now.
(Top photo: Paul Harding via Getty Images)
