Aymeric Laporte

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depps said:
Which is good enough for Bilbao I guess
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I would imagine so.
Interesting that not one article I have looked up says he has a Basque grand parent, so probably both Basque great grand parents were probably married to French spouses.
He joined Bilbao to play in the Spanish La Liga BTW.
 
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MillionDollarDream said:
While I sort of agree with your sentiment with Güdogan, his situation was a bit different. BVB and their fans had been waiting and waiting for him to sort his situation out for a while now. The injuries and the emergence of Julian Weigl made it a bit easier to let him go. As for Güdogan who had 1 year left and still hadn't committed to a long term deal when he saw us/Pep he took his one shot, while keeping his promise of not leaving on a free like the last few.

Laporte still has some years left and doesn't want to make a big deal like Herrera did and actually has a great deal of respect for the club. So maybe if this deal goes through he will show that respect on camera then talk up the chance to advance himself as a player. With some much talent at senior level and U18-U21 in France it would serve him well to be more visible at a big club, playing in top competitions.
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Yeah it was a bit different but that was in regards to the selling club - Dortmund had to sell him to make any sort of money on him. Gundogan had other options but once he heard of our interest, it was merely a formality after that.

I understand respecting your current club, KDB was a prime example. It's one thing letting the clubs involved decide your future and another being on the fence. Do you think Rudiger, Koulibaly, Tah, De Vrij etc would give it a second thought to join us and work with Pep? If he is still undecided at this stage when we've expressed an interest since March, maybe that tells us where his heart is at.
 
kupest said:
Yup, has basque grandparents.
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itisrising said:
They signed him, didn't they? Could you class him as a Basque? And these reports have been going on for a while.
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BlueAnorak said:
2 of his 8 great grandparents are Basque. Raised in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine - not many Basques live there.
So he is Basque in a qualified to play for Ireland sort of way.
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depps said:
Which is good enough for Bilbao I guess
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BlueAnorak said:
I would imagine so.
Interesting that not one article I have looked up says he has a Basque grand parent, so probably both Basque great grand parents were probably married to French spouses.
He joined Bilbao to play in the Spanish La Liga BTW.
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Seems to be a misunderstanding.

He isn't born in French Basque country, and having a grandparent isn't enough.

You have to either be born in greater Basque country **or** be from an academy in Basque country.

Laporte qualifies because he was at Bayonne's academy.
 
domalino said:
Seems to be a misunderstanding.

He isn't born in French Basque country, and having a grandparent isn't enough.

You have to either be born in greater Basque country **or** be from an academy in Basque country.

Laporte qualifies because he was at Bayonne's academy.
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He was born and raised in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine - which is NOT part of the French Basque country. As close to French Basque country as Manchester is to Wales in fact.
 
domalino said:
Seems to be a misunderstanding.

He isn't born in French Basque country, and having a grandparent isn't enough.

You have to either be born in greater Basque country **or** be from an academy in Basque country.

Laporte qualifies because he was at Bayonne's academy.
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I've totally lost the point of this conversation, why is he being Basque important?
 
ColinLee said:
I've totally lost the point of this conversation, why is he being Basque important?
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It's not important to us, it's just relevant to how he can play for Bilbao.

Although Bilbao's Basque policy is why they're so hard to buy off, so it's relevant that way.
 
ColinLee said:
I've totally lost the point of this conversation, why is he being Basque important?
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It allows you to play for Bilbao in the the first place - they have a strict 'Must be Basque' policy - though they stretch that to the limit - basically playing as a youth in a Basque region (and there are 3 departments in France adjacent to the Pyrenees that count) or a great grandparent who is Basque.
It matters as they don't have many other player options and don't let players go easily. They'd rather lose the money and keep the player. Typically the player has to force the move to leave.
 
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BlueAnorak said:
It allows you to play for Bilbao in the the first place - they have a strict 'Must be Basque' policy - though they stretch that to the limit - basically playing as a youth in a Basque region (and there are 3 departments in France adjacent to the Pyrenees that count) or a great grandparent who is Basque.
It matters as they don't have many other player options and don't let players go easily. They'd rather lose the money and keep the player. Typically the player has to force the move to leave.
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Grandparents being Basque isn't enough, let alone Great-grandparents.

Tommy Oar's proposed move to Athletic Bilbao fell through after the club deemed that the winger did not possess significant Basque heritage.

The Australian thought he could be eligible to play for the club thanks to his paternal grandparents being from the region, but Athletic only allow players born in the Basque Country or those who have come through the junior ranks to represent the club.

Despite the heritage, the 25-time capped Australian international, was told he was not eligible to represent the club

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-08-18/athletic-bilbao-reject-tommy-oar-over-insufficient-heritage/​
 
domalino said:
Grandparents being Basque isn't enough, let alone Great-grandparents.

Tommy Oar's proposed move to Athletic Bilbao fell through after the club deemed that the winger did not possess significant Basque heritage.

The Australian thought he could be eligible to play for the club thanks to his paternal grandparents being from the region, but Athletic only allow players born in the Basque Country or those who have come through the junior ranks to represent the club.

Despite the heritage, the 25-time capped Australian international, was told he was not eligible to represent the club

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-08-18/athletic-bilbao-reject-tommy-oar-over-insufficient-heritage/​
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Clearly Laporte counts because he came through the Junior ranks then.
 
I think he started as a child with Bayonne which is in the French Basque country before moving to Bilbao.
 
Cityfan said:
I think he started as a child with Bayonne which is in the French Basque country before moving to Bilbao.
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And therefore qualified to play for Bilbao - that's the answer, that's how he qualified... though I'm not sure why we're debating it as their recruitment team have already done the research!
 
Cityfan said:
I think he started as a child with Bayonne which is in the French Basque country before moving to Bilbao.
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This is the one.
Bayonne is in the French Pyrenees Atlantique Department, one of the three French departments that form the French basque territory.
 
So as he plays for Bilbao and they have a limited population base to get players, he'll only leave if he demands to leave. Money is of not much interest to Bilbao.
 
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