Aymeric Laporte

[Gabriel]

Liverpool have also been linked with him, so it may be a factor in reigniting our interest and prompting us to act now.

 

[bondsman]

Further, I'd argue our time to find a suitable, long term, partner to Stones at CB is running short. Laporte may be expensive but prices are inflating at an insane rate, as Van Dijk (questionably worth half what the dippers paid for him) made perfectly clear. He's the right age, he has the right skillset and I believe he would thrive in Pep's system. Alternatives that are as suitable for the role as Laporte are few and far between and aren't going to cost any less, that's almost for certain.

We should, and I think we are, be aiming to stockpile young talent now and watch our rivals cough up mega-bucks on plug ins to try and compete, while we have a stable, growing group of talent all developing under football's best coach.



Dip in form is something all players go through. Form is temporary, after all.

Who would you sign instead to partner Stones at CB for the next 8-10 years?

Umtiti is possibly a better athlete though not sure he’d leave Barca

 

[geoff clipp]

Not really. The lines being fed to the media were:

Sanchez - he's messed us about. We're not going to up our price based on our previous agreement.

Laporte - he backed out last minute, we're never going back in for him again.

Think they're pretty similar if you ask me.

We don't know what was fed to the media because the media create their own narratives. Given how quietly we go about our business, why would City make a point of saying "and we're never going back for them again" about anyone? The revival of this story about us not going back for players in any circumstances originated with a Sam Lee article which mostly came across as conjecture to be honest. Sam Lee has an inside track on some things, but he's guessed things before and been proven wrong. It was only a few weeks ago in a rush to be seen as having the inside scoop that he rather inappropriately (and incorrectly) tweeted that David Silva's absence wasn't baby related.

I'm sure City were fuming if Laporte pulled the plug on a move at the very last minute, but the circumstances between what he did and what Sanchez did are entirely different. At such an early stage of his career, coming off the back of a serious injury and at a club that seems to cultivate a lot of loyalty from its players, you can see why Laporte might have had a last minute change of heart. Sure it was flaky, but it comes across as decision motivated by what was deemed best for him at that point in terms of footballing development. Sanchez's change of heart on this occasion seems more motivated by money. I expect City would take a completely different view on how those two events reflect on each players' character and motivations.

 

[billymumphrey]

We're just planting this to flush out JFE to sign the ting right?

 

[jay laruja]

Further, I'd argue our time to find a suitable, long term, partner to Stones at CB is running short. Laporte may be expensive but prices are inflating at an insane rate, as Van Dijk (questionably worth half what the dippers paid for him) made perfectly clear. He's the right age, he has the right skillset and I believe he would thrive in Pep's system. Alternatives that are as suitable for the role as Laporte are few and far between and aren't going to cost any less, that's almost for certain.

We should, and I think we are, be aiming to stockpile young talent now and watch our rivals cough up mega-bucks on plug ins to try and compete, while we have a stable, growing group of talent all developing under football's best coach.

I agree. Woudn't surprise me the least if average defenders start going for a 100M in a couple of years.

 

[The Doctor]

He was our number one choice a couple of years back and Mendes persuaded him to stay at Bilbao........we have done deals with Mendes since and the time is now right considering escalating prices v's his buyout clause. Sanchez reneged on his agreement of last August and now would have made an arse of our wage structure especially when we are about to announce the best player in the PL tied until 2024!
Bring Laporte in ........now!

 

[uwe rosler 28]

If I remember rightly didn't laporte say that he felt he owed Bilbao another season at least or something along those lines?

 

[urban genie]

Sanchez's change of heart was entirely financially motivated. He used us to try and get a bigger paycheck.

Laporte would've earned more for us than for Bilbao but dropped out because he was young, scared and recovering from injury. That's disappointing but not deplorable.

This is my point earlier, I was offered a job abroad at 17, went over for a trial and tgen backed out, I re appied the year after and tbe same owners gave me a second chance and I worked there 10 years.

I am sure Pep would look at it as a young lad, just back from injury and feeling a debt/gratitude to bilbao for not abandoni g him as pulling out, rather than an aged profesional like sanchez going back on a deal and being a ****.

 

[Manc in London]

He was linked to us by Spanish and British media in both transfer windows between then and now. It's an easy credible link for a journalist to make a story out of on a slow news day.

Also, people are attaching credence to it because it's from a journalist attached to the same station as the teamsheet leaker. Even if it was the leaker himself (which it isn't), he was hardly getting his info from Soriano, Txiki or Guardiola.

As I said, I hope I'm wrong, but this seems like bollocks.

I haven't come across any links since he re-signed.

I too hope it is true.

 

[razman]