Although much was expected of Manuel Pellegrini’s side ahead of the current league campaign, Manchester City have ultimately failed to do the business with their star-studded squad, especially considering the quite ridiculous sums of money that were willingly spent last summer.
The incoming Pep Guardiola will nonetheless look to add to the big names ranks down at the Etihad upon being officially welcomed in as the new City boss however, which could indeed send a multitude of dramatic aftershocks throughout European football.
So then, as Athletic Bilbao’s rapidly emerging centre-back Aymeric Laporte has reportedly been highlighted as a major transfer target for Guardiola during the upcoming summer months, would this highly rated Frenchman really suit plying his trade under ‘Pep’, or should Man City have already learnt their lesson when it comes to landing big-money defenders that still represent something of a gamble?
Well, although the Citizens have clearly been stung several times in the transfer market regarding high profile defensive recruitments – Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi look away now perhaps – Laporte is one player Man City must seriously consider at the very least…
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Via his tough tackling approach for Bilbao in several seasons past, excellent reading of the game all across the back-four and increasingly impressive technical ability with the ball locked firmly at his feet, the 21-year-old clearly has a rather promising future upon the European scene.
Laporte has subsequently drawn a great deal of attention from Barcelona this season, however, for despite already displaying a vast amount of dominance both domestically and within the ever competitive realms of Champions League football, Luis Enrique’s notorious La Liga giants are still supposedly keen on bolstering their rearguard.
Manchester City and Guardiola will therefore have to pull out all the relevant stops if they genuinely want to land the up and coming France U-21 star ahead of their illustrious Spanish counterparts. Lord knows the Etihad faithful have not had the most cohesive and reliable back-four throughout the current season after all…
For one reason or another, the likes of Mangala and Otamendi have simply failed to hit the ground running and ultimately prove their worth since first arriving. Neither player has come anywhere close to repaying City for the sizeable fees paid out, which, coupled with Vincent Kompany’s growing fitness concerns, makes the notion of signing yet another highly rated centre-back all the more important for Guardiola this summer.
Laporte fits the bill perfectly for Man City. He may only be a recently emerged 21-year-old with a potentially promising future ahead of him, but even at this early stage in the Frenchman’s young career he is expected to blossom into one of Europe’s most established centre-backs just a few short years down the line.
So then, whilst the money-men behind the scenes at the Etihad could be forced to stump up Athletic Bilbao’s sizeable £40m asking price in the race for the highly rated defender this summer, Aymeric Laporte could indeed go some way in restoring City’s once almost flawless defensive record.
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