Gary Lineker hails transformation in Tottenham’s Serge Aurier

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Tottenham Hotspur defender Serge Aurier blasted home a goal in Jose Mourinho’s side’s victory over Olympiacos last night.

Gary Lineker has told BT Sport, during their live coverage of Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League match against Olympiacos, that he thinks Jose Mourinho has transformed Serge Aurier.

Aurier always looked shaky under Mauricio Pochettino, and rarely could be trusted to perform a reliable function in Tottenham’s team.

However, the Ivorian has been one of Tottenham’s best players in Mourinho’s first two games in charge.

Aurier has been given a role which gives him more attacking freedom under Mourinho, with the right-back often creeping into advanced areas of the pitch.

Aurier has a fine finish on him, and he showed once again last night that he is excellent in front of goal for a defender.

The former PSG man drilled home a volley to put Tottenham 3-2 in front in the contest.

And Lineker says he has seen a massive improvement in Aurier already under Mourinho.

“He’s been one of the stars under Mourinho, it’s like he’s been re-ignited,” Lineker said.

Rio Ferdinand also agreed that Aurier has looked a different player in the past week.

And Ferdinand feels that the right-back may be the Spurs player to benefit most from Mourinho’s arrival.

“When a manager comes in sometimes there’s a player who benefits the most, and at the moment it looks like it’s him,” he said.

“We were talking about a car crash, but he looks so much more composed and he knows what he’s doing.”

Tottenham’s win last night has put them through to the knockout stages of the Champions League ahead of their final group stage game, which comes against Bayern Munich.