Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte is reportedly a target for Barcelona.
Mundo Deportivo have claimed the Catalan giants are interested in signing the 27-year-old.
Apparently the player is interested in returning to La Liga, after he struggled for game time in 2020/21.
The star – who will represent Spain at Euro 2020 – has been unable to get back into the City starting XI after sustaining an injury early in the season, with Ruben Dias and John Stones flourishing.
In the end, he made just 27 appearances – way down on the 51 he made in 2018/19.
If there is any truth to Laporte wanting out of City this summer, then that would be a little disappointing.
Of course, a player of his calibre needs to be playing regularly.
But there was just no way Pep Guardiola could separate Stones and Dias once Laporte was back fit again.
Ultimately, keeping that partnership intact massively helped guide City to two trophies.
Rather than seek a move away from City, Laporte should be patient and take a leaf out of Stones’ book.
The England international struggled for the first few years of his City career, and as recently as last year it was being reported that he faced being sold.
Despite not always being a regular starter, he maintained belief in himself to come good, and 2020/21 was the best season of his career to date.
It is highly unlikely that City will try to cash in on Laporte, who has a contract until 2025 (Transfermarkt) so it’s going to be up to him to win his place back.
The Laporte-Dias partnership has only been wheeled out a handful of times, but one gets the feeling any mistakes from Stones will allow the former Athletic Bilbao ace to come back into the fold.
Stones’ injury record during his time at City has not exactly been pristine, and that’s another reason a renaissance for Laporte might not be too far off.
Right now, there aren’t many better places to be than Manchester City under Pep Guardiola, and Laporte has just very unfortunate.
