Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte is reportedly keen on making the switch to Barcelona in the summer transfer window.
According to a report by Spanish publication SPORT, Aymeric Laporte appears to be eager to join Barcelona in the summer transfer window. The Spanish international is pushing Manchester City to offload him to the Catalan giants ahead of the 2021/22 season.
Laporte joined Manchester City from Athletic Bilbao in January 2018 and has since gone on to establish himself as one of the best defenders in the Premier League. However, the 2020/21 was a difficult season for the 27-year-old, who only managed 27 appearances across all competitions for the Citizens, with John Stones usurping him in the pecking order.
In recent weeks, it has been suggested that Laporte is dissatisfied with his role in the Manchester City first-team setup, and the report by SPORT now claims that he is pushing for a summer exit. In fact, as per the Spanish publication, Laporte is keen on joining Barcelona, who have been hot on his trails of late.
Barcelona appear to be hell bent on raiding Manchester City this summer, having already signed Eric Garcia and Sergio Aguero on free transfers from the English heavyweights. However, that is not where they have stopped with a few more players reportedly on their radar.
Indeed, Ilkay Gundogan, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo have all been linked with a possible switch to Camp Nou this summer. And Laporte is another player to have emerged as a target for Barcelona, who are eager to continue bolstering their defence.
The interest from Barcelona is not unfounded either, despite the arrival of Eric Garcia. Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet both endured disappointing 2020/21 campaigns. Both the players are now facing an uncertain future at Barcelona, with Umtiti, in particular, expected to leave.
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Laporte, to that end, is not just a viable option to fill the place that would be left vacant by Umtiti but actually be an upgrade on the Frenchman as well as his compatriot Lenglet. However, Laporte is aware that with his market value being high, Barcelona might be unable to afford his transfer fee.
As a result, he is now pushing for a move this summer, which suggests that a transfer request could be on the cards as well. This certainly puts Barcelona in a solid position to swoop the 27-year-old away from Manchester City, and it remains to be seen if that proves to be the case in the coming weeks.
Barca should please try their best to get this man, he’s a great defender.