Manchester City have joined the race for highly coveted Atletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte according to Marca.
The 21-year-old French defender, however, won’t come cheap with a €50 million release clause after signing a contract extension in June of last year.
It comes as no surprise there’s a long queue for Laporte’s signature, Laporte’s stock has continually grown in the past few seasons in the 2013-2014 season he made the La Liga team of the season. Laporte was a vital component of Atletico’s 2015 Spanish Super Cup win.
Confident on the ball and strong in the air, this season he’s averaged 58.%33 successful take ons and in the air he has won 68.52% of his aerial duels this season (Stats Via Squawka).
Having reportedly been watching him for a while now, Arsenal are thought to be leading the race for Laporte who is also being monitored by the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and PSG.
Laporte can not only play at centre-back he’s shown his versatility putting in confident displays when previously deployed at left back under Ernesto Valverde.
If City are to sign Laporte they’ll have to move fast especially with the Euros coming up where his value is expected to significantly increase.
