According to reports, it has been claimed that Manchester City “do not plan to part with Aymeric Laporte “ after the Spanish center-back was heavily linked to a move with Barcelona. The Cityzens have already started the winter window with the departure of Ferran Torres to the Blaugrana and would be cautious about their approach with another starter leaving the club in January.
Laporte, 27, has been a consistent starter in Guardiola’s XI after going through a lean patch where he was ousted from the XI by Englishman John Stones for the center-back position. The Spaniard has been a key figure alongside Ruben Dias in the backline forming the heart of the defense. The defending champions though have been solid with their defense this season conceding a mere 13 goals across 21 league fixtures.
Mundo Deportivo claims that Laporte will stay put in Manchester despite the Spanish club’s interest. Barcelona have been following the France-born center-back since his days in Athletic Bilbao.
The former La Liga champions are planning to part ways with Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet by the end of this season. They will be soon in pursuit of a centre back and will aspire to link Laporte with his fellow countryman and former Manchester City player Eric Garcia who joined the former La-Liga Champions on a Bosman in the previous summer window.
Barcelona President, Joan Laporta seems to be keen on landing Juventus defender, Matthijs De Ligt with his camaraderie with Mino Raiola coming into play. Nevertheless, the deal is going to be a complicated one with the player’s salary and his agent’s commission. Signing Laporte would assure that Barca have a promising defender for the future in the bank.
However, one of the vital reasons why the Ferran Torres operation went through was the consent of Pep Guardiola, which seems to be lacking in this case with the Manchester City boss wanting to keep hold of his man.