Manchester City lands long-term target Laporte for €65 million

Manchester City completed the signing of Aymeric Laporte on Tuesday.

Reports of the Premier League leader’s interest in the French defender date back almost two years, and City finally got its man after triggering Laporte’s €65-million (£57.1-million) release clause at Athletic Club. His asking price was set to rise to €70 million at the end of the season.

Laporte’s fee trumped the previous club record of £55 million that was paid for Kevin De Bruyne in 2015, and he then signed a five-and-a-half-year contract in the northwest.

“I am very happy to be here,” Laporte said. “City are a club with a lot of ambition and they are one of the best teams in Europe.

“I am looking forward to working under Pep Guardiola and trying to help the club to achieve success. It means a lot that the club have shown faith in me and I am excited to get started.”

Pep Guardiola’s hunt for alternatives to oft-sidelined Vincent Kompany and flop Eliaquim Mangala was a poorly kept secret, and Laporte’s arrival should cut their minutes in the first team. The 23-year-old will also put pressure on the places of John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi in the heart of City’s back-four.

Laporte is left-footed – a hot commodity when it comes to centre-halves – and can fill in at left-back when required. The latter role has been a problem position for Manchester City this season since Benjamin Mendy fell to a serious knee injury. Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko are commonly called in to fill the void, but both are midfielders by trade.

Laporte is still awaiting his senior debut for France’s national team, but his move to Manchester City should put him firmly under the spotlight ahead of the country’s 2018 World Cup campaign. He’s an accurate distributor of long passes, and won more headers per 90 minutes than any of his defensive colleagues in Bilbao.