According to Sam Lee. He literally had everything signed and ready to go ahead. Including a fee with Athletic. Literally on the 11th hour he rejected and changed his mind. Everything was booked in; Medicals, contracts all wrote up. Lot of leg work for the club who thought they had a player. He turned htem down really late in the window causing a huge waste of time for everyone involved and left us without a top tier CB that we really needed at the time.
One would assume (if this is true) the timing is because he could now take the spot Alexis would've occupied in the Champions League roster.my question is why next week? unless they mean this week coming.
Hmm, given what we know about City not going back for targets I won't get too excited then until he's holding up the shirt :D Suppose if theres not many choices out there and all is forgiven it could happen. Really good CB would solve a lot of problems..
One would assume (if this is true) the timing is because he could now take the spot Alexis would've occupied in the Champions League roster.
The news guy or Larporte? :)Not this mug again. He had his chance
To be fair Delph did similar and he’s never backed away from anything once he was here.He’d be perfect for us but I have my suspicions given he pulled out so late last time. According to someone on here even the media stuff was ready for the website. Makes a bit nervous he’s a bit of a flake. Anyway hope he comes and is a roaring success. He deffo won’t be coming to sit on a bench.
Hmm, given what we know about City not going back for targets I won't get too excited then until he's holding up the shirt :D Suppose if theres not many choices out there and all is forgiven it could happen. Really good CB would solve a lot of problems..
Been talked about for years as one of the best up and coming ball playing central defenders.
What happened between him and us last time remains a mystery, but if you are offering me Laporte or Evans is Laporte everyday.
I still think in regards to Evans that a deal would be have been done by now if we could get him for £20m. I think West Brom know in the current market they can get close to £30m for him, especially if they are going to cover themselves just in case they get relegated.
We would be made to pay that sort of money for Evans.
Laporte for me, unlike Evans, could really challenge Stones and Otamendi for a first team place.
What happened between Laporte and City is fairly straightforward and somewhat overblown. He was on the cusp of signing however was actually out, at the time, with a lengthy injury and was tempted to stay and recover by Valverde who was a father figure. The latter moved on to Barca and, while Laporte was initially hopeful he might follow, the immovable and irreplaceable force known as Samuel Umtiti happened and effectively rules out any chance he'll be reunited with Valverde.
So now he's no longer injured and stuck playing for a club who's style no longer suits him and who have no hope of taking his game forward. Every single post match interview that he gets questioned in, to this day, there is something in there about Pep and City. He continues to follow and retweet Pep on Twitter and has, as far as I know, always left the door open for a move here even when he extended with Bilbao. He has talked about moving since April 2017 and made it sound almost a certainty, to the point most Athletic fans are no longer surprised by the idea. So I think it's safe to assume the player almost certainly wants, and feels ready for, the move.
The only question is if City still want him. He is the best, perhaps only, fit for a long term partner to Stones at the back. His skillset is absolutely unique and perfect for Pep's possession/passing game and he is already, on his best form, a defensive upgrade over say Evans (though I'd argue JFE is a pretty consistent 7/10 which has its advantages also)
All that said, since we extended Nico, and given our recent policy, I'm not sure I'm ready to buy into any hype yet.