Aymeric Laporte has an uncertain future at Manchester City after losing his place at centre-back. Pep Guardiola preferred Ruben Dias and John Stones in defence last season and Mundo Deportivo recently reported interest in the 27-year-old from Barcelona.
Letting Laporte leave wouldn’t be a wise decision from City, however, as he’s a valuable player who’d be difficult to replace. The French-born Spanish international joined the Sky Blues from Athletic in 2018 and has gone on to make 111 appearances in all competitions.
Laporte is no longer commanding a starting place, however. He made 27 appearances across the board last season, but only 16 of them were in the Premier League and a handful of those were at left-back.
The 27-year-old couldn’t be blamed for considering his options, as he won’t want to spend next season on the periphery, but Laporte is too good to let go. Eric Garcia recently left for Barcelona, so Laporte’s departure would leave Guardiola with only Nathan Ake for cover – a player who spent most of his debut season injured.
Pep called Laporte “quality” earlier in the year too and holds him in high regard, so it would benefit him to keep the Frenchman happy so he’ll stay.
In other news, Manchester City ‘offering higher wages’ to beat Chelsea to 28 y/o’s signature