Tottenham Hotspur are a club that have made some true howlers in their desperate state of late, with Daniel Levy the man often spearheading such an operation.
The businessman, who began his relationship with the Lilywhites in 2001, has overseen one of the club's most barren periods in its illustrious history, having failed to taste silverware since their 2008 League Cup triumph, nearly 25 years ago now.
For an establishment of this stature, such a record is truly abysmal, and it does explain some of the clueless knee-jerk decisions that the 61-year-old made.
Sacking Mauricio Pochettino for Jose Mourinho, and later Antonio Conte, marked the true peak of his foolishness, which finally seems to have settled with the appointment of Ange Postecoglou.
However, the Australian will forever have to contend with these errors of the past, dodging financial obstacles and shifting dead weight in the coming years.
And yet, despite all that stands in his way, his team sit atop the Premier League table regardless, having yet to be defeated. It marks an impressive feat, and one which fans all over the country remain keen on following to see just how long such positivity can last.
Who is Spurs' worst-ever signing?
When delving back across that torrid period, in which managerial missteps were arguably the biggest blunders of them all, there were also a whole host of transfer duds to name too in that desperate pursuit of a return to the top.
All of the aforementioned managers were sufficiently backed, including Nuno Espirito Santo, with Andre Villas-Boas even being handed a huge transfer war chest following the world-record sale of Gareth Bale.
Unsurprisingly, given their failure to reach the levels expected, each of these regimes are littered with gaffes in the market.
Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela marked two torrid options from the earliest of these tenures, whilst the likes of Giovani Lo Celso, Bryan Gil and Richarlison have all disappointed despite the large fees attached to their acquisition.
However, whilst Pochettino may have been a master tactician, his transfer dealings left plenty to be desired. Unloading £63m on Tanguy Ndombele remains one of their worst-ever purchases, whilst there were also a host of other acquisitions that have piled up to accumulate a group of awful signings.
One such name from that group would be Serge Aurier, who ended up costing Spurs millions despite never really managing to succeed in north London.
In fact, whilst the Ivorian full-back would make a whopping 110 appearances for the club, his tenure is one remembered more for his high-profile errors and inability to defend, rather than the few bursts forward that merited a total of 25 goal contributions.
After all, even as recently as March saw journalist Buchi Laba write: "This Serge Aurier is a useless right back."
This certainly supports a notion outlined during his Tottenham days, with pundit Rio Ferdinand boldly claiming: "As a defender I have never really rated Aurier. He’s rash and he’s let his team down far too often."
As such, in his final year before leaving a year early following the mutual termination of his contract, Aurier would only manage 19 Premier League starts, yet still made three errors directly leading to shots, and gave away a penalty too.
Seldom reliable and surprisingly blunt in attack, there were few redeeming moments of the 30-year-old's four years in north London, which remains a heavy blemish on their record.
How much did Spurs pay for Serge Aurier?
Whilst his output may have been hugely disappointing, the total financial cost of that terrible period only exacerbates what was a true Pochettino disasterclass, as he desperately sought to secure a successor to Kieran Trippier.
The Englishman had shone as a key component of his side at right-back, with incredible passing ability and the unique talent to deliver a cross with pinpoint perfection.
It seemed like the Lilywhites had therefore secured his heir when tempting Aurier from Paris Saint-Germain, rescuing the talented outcast from France to the tune of £23m.
However, perhaps they could have heeded the warning issued by Laurent Blanc, who said the following after the young full-back had mocked him and questioned the club on social media: "How did I react? Very badly. Very badly. Because we think whatever we like – this is a democracy and we are free to think about things, have our opinions – but that boy … Two years ago, I committed myself to bring him to Paris, so to see what I saw yesterday … that’s the thanks I get? It’s pitiful."
What did Serge Aurier earn?
Such a fee would only scratch the surface of what Aurier would end up costing Spurs, with an equally high wage for someone so young marking an immense show of faith for someone who was far from a surefire success.
£340k
£4.75m
£2.23m
£3.4m
As it would so happen, he turned out to be a failure, thus making his initial £80k-per-week salary, and even the £70k-per-week deal it was reduced to after the first year, a tragedy.
To then add his transfer fee with the four years of wages he amassed, and in total the current Nottingham Forest dud would drain the club of £38m – notably equating to £3.4m per yellow card he received in that time (11).
Did Serge Aurier deserve to earn £70k-per-week?
Given all that has been mentioned previously, it is pretty clear that Aurier was far from good value for his wages.
After all, former Liverpool great Jamie Carragher would sum it up neatly, launching a scathing rant on the 5 foot 9 flop back in 2021: "Aurier is maybe one of the biggest liabilities in Premier League football and is a player who would possibly put you off management with the amount of crazy decision he makes.
"We know what happened with the goal, he ends up running off the pitch allowing Sterling – the worst thing you can do – on that right foot almost get the goal."
To make matters worse, during Aurier's first year in England, he was actually their fifth-highest-paid player, with only superstars like Harry Kane, Heung-min Son, Hugo Lloris and Jan Vertonghen earning more, via Capology.
That meant that players like Dele Alli, Mousa Dembele, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen were all earning less than a liability who could not even get in the team, whilst they all marked integral figures.
His on-pitch involvement was constantly underwhelming, but the financial drain his presence placed on Levy is the true outstanding failure of this venture.
