Aymeric Laporte has opened up about his departure from Manchester City.
After spending five-and-a-half-years at the Manchester club, the defender joined Al-Nassr during the previous summer transfer window in a deal worth over £23m.
Just five months after his move to Saudi Arabia, the 29-year-old has opened up about his move away from City.
Laporte blames injuries for City exit
Speaking in a recent interview with AS, Laporte had this to say about his time at City and what led to him leaving the club.
He said: “Manchester City has given me victories, trophies. That’s a great thing for a soccer player.
“I’m sure there have been things that I could have done much better and it’s a shame the issue of injuries, which have come to me too often and have affected the race. But I’m where I am, and it hasn’t gone so badly.
“But yes, it would have been nicer not to have had these injuries because there would be different things. See, I think it’s because of the injuries I suffered when the club started signing other centrals. When you make those hires, which were also for a lot of money, you can’t save the place of a soccer player who has given you a lot of physical problems or injuries.
“The club saw it this way and preferred to bet on others. Obviously, if these physical problems had not happened, everything would have been different.”
City paid a then club record fee of £57m to sign Laporte from Athletic Bilbao during the 2018 January transfer window.
During his time at the Manchester club, the Spaniard made 180 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side across all competitions, chipping in with 12 goals and four assists as well as winning numerous trophies including five Premier League titles.
Looking back over Laporte’s final season with the Citizens, a knee injury kept him out of action for the first few weeks of the campaign, which was then followed by him failing to get a decent run in the team, ultimately starting just 20 games across all competitions.
While the knee injury may have put him on the back foot at the start of the season, it seems likely that his lack of regular game time when he was fit could have been a reason why he looked to leave the club and why City were willing to let him go.
