Laporte to move to Manchester City

CAIRO – 26 January 2018: Athletic Bilbao’s defender Aymeric Laporte will be a Manchester City player. The English club deposited on Wednesday €65 million to Athletic Bilbao as the center back’s release clause.

The agreement with the player is done and it is a matter of hours before the operation becomes official.

He will sign for five seasons and may be registered to play the Champions League with the 'Citizens'.

Pep Guardiola has insisted particularly on the signing. His determination and faith in Laporte have been a key to Manchester City betting on a player who did not create good memories.

Two summers ago it was the great priority to reinforce the axis of the defense line. When everything seemed ready for finalization, the player backed out at the last minute and ended up signing the renewal with Athletic, in one of the largest contracts in the history of Bilbao.

Weeks later, City ended up signing the second option on their list: John Stones.