Aymeric Laporte’s farewell is an idea that is starting to be accepted in Bilbao. The player has a few days to give a response to the ‘take it or leave it’ offer from Manchester City, and Athletic don’t have much hope of keeping him now.
On Friday, Spanish newspaper Marca had an article with many ‘facts’ about Laporte’s departure. They say the defender has had an offer to join Manchester City since March, and the negotiations have been personally taken care of by the English club directors Txiki Begiristain and Ferrán Soriano.
Athletic had hopes of convincing Laporte to stay by offering him a new contract, but this idea has been ruled out since everyone knows they can’t get any close to what City are offering him. The player’s €50m release clause is also said not to be an issue.
Just like an article we covered from AS yesterday, Marca also compare Laporte to Eric Bailly, the Villarreal defender who has just signed for Manchester United.
They say Laporte is a much better player and spending a few more million on him is definitely better business for the blue side of Manchester.
