Journalist Alex Crook has claimed that it is likely Aymeric Laporte will be leaving Manchester City this summer.
The defender has recently been linked with a move to Al-Nassr, with the Citizens reportedly accepting an undisclosed offer for the player from the Saudi Arabian club.
Now though, one journalist has shared some behind-the-scenes details on the matter.
Crook says Laporte exit is likely
Speaking on talkSPORT, Crook had this to say about Laporte and his current situation at City.
He said: “I think it’s very likely that he leaves Manchester City now.
“I think he’s been told he won’t get a lot of playing time this season. Looks like that one will happen.
“Slightly surprised maybe that English clubs aren’t showing more interest in him, the likes of Tottenham and Aston Villa perhaps in the market for centre-backs but maybe more on that as the window progresses.”
Since arriving at the Etihad Stadium back in 2018 in a deal worth £57m, the centre-back has made 180 appearances for City across all competitions, chipping in with 12 goals and winning numerous trophies in the process including five Premier League titles.
Bearing in mind how the 29-year-old only started 11 Premier League games last season and has only played 11 minutes of action across the Community Shield, the 3-0 win over Burnley and last night’s Super Cup victory, this shows that he is not at the top of Pep Guardiola’s pecking order.
With that in mind, this backs up what Crook said about Laporte apparently being told that he won’t be playing regularly this season and now looks likely to leave the club.
Moving forward, if the Spaniard does end up waving goodbye to the Manchester club at some point before the summer transfer window closes, it’ll be interesting to see if City look to bring in a suitable replacement if they feel the need to.
