“Very close to joining” – Director says they made ‘every effort possible’ to sign player from Manchester City

On August 24th, Aymeric Laporte left Manchester City for Al-Nassr after spending over five years at the Etihad.

The Citizens signed the centre-back from Athletic Club Bilbao in January 2018 and the latter were keen on bringing him back to the club in the recently concluded window.

This has been revealed by Athletic sporting director Mikel González during an interview with Movistar+ and his quotes are relayed by AS.

The La Liga side lost Iñigo Martínez [who joined Barcelona] as a free agent in the summer and their intention was to replace him with the former Manchester City man. However, they were unable to compete with the Saudi Arabian club to sign the 29-year-old.

“[Market] is small, there was a goal set some time ago and he was very close to joining, it’s true that against certain new markets it is difficult to compete and I think that we continue to have that door open for the future,” he said.

According to AS, the Middle Eastern club offered €30m in transfer fee to Manchester City and a lucrative salary to the Spain international.

The Basque club’s director has admitted his side fought until the end to sign Laporte before he left Manchester City for Al-Nassr.

“It’s a new scenario in football, figures that are incredible, which are difficult to reject at times. Athletic had made every effort possible and we understand the player’s decision,” González explained.

González also opened the door for Laporte to return to Athletic Club Bilbao in the future.