A major update has emerged about Manchester City centre-back Aymeric Laporte ahead of the summer window.
What's the talk?
According to Spanish publication Sport, Manchester City and Barcelona are in talks over a potential deal to take Aymeric Laporte to the Camp Nou this summer. The two clubs are said to be discussing ways to make a transfer work, as Barcelona are keen to land the recently-capped Spanish international centre-back.
Barcelona are unable to afford a straight-up permanent deal for Laporte and could offer Sergi Roberto to Pep Guardiola in part exchange for Laporte. Guardiola is said to be a fan of Roberto and was the manager who brought him into the first-team at Barcelona a decade ago.
During the 2019/20 campaign, City boss Guardiola lauded “specialist” Laporte as the best left-footed centre-back on the planet. He told MEN:
“We have missed him a lot, he’s the best left central defender in the world. Imagine the best teams in the world lose their best central defender. We miss him a lot because he’s a specialist left foot where our buildup. He is fast, strong in the air.
“He has something that we don’t have in the squad. His left foot and many actions to build up to make it quicker and better – we don’t have it, not because the other ones are not good but he has the only left foot as a central defender and for the way we want to play that is so important. His character and mentality and winning, he has all the attributes. For me, when he is fit he is the best left central defender in the world.”
City fans will be frustrated
Manchester City fans will surely be frustrated that this report suggests a deal is possible for Laporte to move to Barcelona. The fact that City are even in talks with Barcelona, if the report is accurate, suggests that the Premier League side are open to letting him go and that could be a huge mistake.
If City allow him to leave, it will likely result in the fans becoming frustrated because of the other centre-back options left at the club and because of what Laporte has achieved since his move to The Etihad.
The £120k-per-week beast has won three Premier League titles, three League Cups and one FA Cup since arriving at the club in January 2018. In fact, he was the scorer of the winning goal in the most recent of those League Cup victories, powering in a header against Tottenham earlier this year. His accomplishments in his relatively short time at City highlight his immense quality and show why he should not be written off or sold, simply because John Stones and Ruben Dias have had good seasons.
In the 2018/19 campaign, Laporte played 35 games for Manchester City and averaged a superb WhoScored rating of 7.05 in the Premier League. This season, Dias has averaged a score of 6.91 in 32 Premier League appearances for City in the same position.
Laporte still has the quality to be a top-tier option for Manchester City going forward and compete with both Stones and Dias for a starting spot in the 2021/22 season. City fans would have a right to be frustrated if the club allowed Laporte to depart in the coming months.
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