Laporte’s coming home? Athletic lures him back to the Basque Country from Manchester City

It’s been 5 years since Aymeric Laporte moved from Athletic Bilbao to Manchester City. But now he may be about to return home to the Basque Country, where Laporte was brought up to big-time football.

Although Laporte is French, he comes from a Basque family and moved to Bilbao at a young age to play for local side Athletic. He worked his way up to the A-team where he made his debut in the 2012/13 season.

As a 19-year-old, he managed to play 15 games, won a place in the starting line-up from the very next season and was the leader of the Basque defence for the next four and a half seasons.

But in January 2018, Manchester City came knocking on the door and Laporte couldn’t resist. He decided to leave his family club and set off on an English adventure.

In the Citizens squad, his role was like a seesaw. At times he was part of the starting line-up, then he was part of the rotation, alternating between the bench and the pitch, and often injuries left him confined to the stands.

He managed the fewest number of games last season, playing just 12 in the Premier League. Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Aké and John Stones were preferred, but then moved up from stopper.

Even so, Laporte was getting fewer opportunities than he would have liked. And his playing time could quite possibly get even shorter from next season, as Josko Guardiola, the super-talented stopper from Leipzig, is on his way to the Etihad Stadium.

so the 29-year-old defender is looking for a way out and Athletic are offering him one. According to the MARCA newspaper, the Basque club are ready to welcome Laporte back and would get an excellent and, moreover, three years younger replacement after the departure of Iñigo Martínez to Barcelona.

Reportedly, Laporte would not be averse to returning to San Mamés either. Moreover, EURO 2024 is on the agenda at the end of the season and the Spanish stopper needs to play regularly and be seen.

Source: MARCA