It has been reported that Arsenal are keen on making a move for Manchester City centre-back Aymeric Laporte.
This comes from Fabrizio Romano, who was speaking to Caught Offside about the £57 million (Sky Sports) man’s potential move to Mikel Arteta’s side.
The Italian journalist did confirm that Arsenal are extremely interested in signing Aymeric Laporte, who was linked with a big-money move to Saudi Arabia only last Tuesday.
Fabrizio Romano: Arsenal keen on signing Aymeric Laporte now
Branded as ‘world-class’ by Steph Houghton, the 29-year-old looked like a certainty to leave the Sky Blues after becoming a bit-part player last season.
However, as the 2023/2024 campaign has begun, Laporte is yet to have received a serious bid from any suitors.
Now, Fabrizio Romano has reported that Arsenal certainly hold an interest in signing Aymeric Laporte this summer.
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“Earlier in the summer, Arsenal looked at bringing in a ‘traditional’ centre-back, more than a versatile player like [Jurrien] Timber, who can play everywhere in defence.”
However, it seems like Manchester City are refusing to sell any player anymore to Arsenal, including Aymeric Laporte, “One player they appreciate is Aymeric Laporte – the rumours are true in the sense that he is liked by Arsenal, but the problem is Manchester City don’t want to sell another player to Arsenal, they prefer another destination for him, so let’s see if Arsenal return for Laporte or if they try to replace Timber with a full-back instead. Internal discussions will take place on that, with Mikel Arteta involved.”
Aymeric Laporte should be sold anywhere but to the Gunners
Manchester City are well-placed not to strengthen Arsenal anymore by selling them yet another top player in Aymeric Laporte.
The Gunners are clearly their closest challengers for the Premier League title once again this season and to boost their prospects by allowing them to sign a world-class defender would be ludicrous.
While it would perhaps be ideal if a foreign club came in for the Spanish international, it is unlikely that many will fork out a big enough fee due to the financial disparity between them and English sides.
Then again, Laporte remains a top-drawer centre-half and if City can offload him to another league, that would be ideal for them.