Juventus are making preparations to try and sign Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte.
According to a report, the Serie A giants are ‘preparing a strategy’ as the Spanish international has indicated his willingness to join the club.
With City attempting to sign centre-back Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig, Laporte is expected to leave the Etihad Stadium this summer.
Laporte is Juventus’ priority
As reported by Calciomercarto, Juventus have informed City of their desire to sign Laporte on loan with an option to buy.
However, that might prove to be something of a sticking point.
The report claims that while City are willing to let Laporte go, they are only looking to sell him for a fee no less than €30m.
Despite that, Juventus are ‘convinced’ that City will accept their conditions for a deal in this transfer window as Laporte’s City contract is set to expire in 2025.
Laporte has been linked with moves to Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and clubs in Saudi Arabia, but it’s believed City have so far not received any offers for the 29-year-old.
MCN view: City might have few options
Should City complete the signing of Gvardiol, then they may have little choice but to get Laporte out of the door in any way they can.
Laporte has slipped down the defensive pecking order at City and was unhappy with his game time last season.
The Spain international – once described by Guardiola as ‘the best left-sided centre-back for build-up in the world’ – made just 12 Premier League appearances as City won the title for a third year in a row.
His situation is surely not going to improve with the arrival of Gvardiol, even if Guardiola sticks with his four-centre-back system.
Laporte’s value won’t increase between now and next summer, while having six central defenders would make Guardiola’s squad bloated.
City’s desire is to sell, but loaning Laporte to Juventus with a buy option would be better than having him just sit around doing nothing.
